Criterion and IFC

[knives]

Also as an aside the directors previous movie (a Bittersweet Life), which sadly has no US release is even better, if far more straight nosed than this one.

GBW and Bittersweet Life (which, by the way, I hated) have very little in common beyond having the same director; Kim Ji-woon is a very idiosyncratic filmmaker. If any of Kim's previous features bears comparison to GBW, it's probably The Foul King, which I like very much.

Sadly, I've only seen those two, and in terrible bootlegs at that, and Tale of Two Sisters, which is by far my favorite. I definitely see why you'd hate ABL and I only mentioned it in the hope that by doing so it'd actually get picked up because of the excessive mentioning. Otherwise I agree it is vastly different from the other two I've seen (really none are alike).

[captveg]

I got to see TGTBTW in LA back in late 2008. I enjoyed it quite a lot, and I've been disappointed to see it not yet get a wider US release. I think it would fit in with the CC just fine. There's certainly some amazing (if excessive) sequences, especially on the train heist.

[colinr0380]

I haven't seen The Good, The Bad, The Weird yet, though it was released in Britain around a year ago (Blu and DVD). Interestingly I note that the director's first film, The Quiet Family, is apparently a more straight forward version thriller of escalating calamities that Takashi Miike later took to insane absurdity in The Happiness of the Katakuris.

[bigP]

One of the Tartan releases planned before their collapse - that I was most looking forward to - was the director's cut of A Bittersweet Life. Whilst I did enjoy the original cut, it worked only as scenes and ideas for me, but as a whole, felt fractured and inconsistent. I was hoping to see if the director's cut could shed some light onto why the film seemed so incomplete and rushed for me. Hopefully Palisades Tartan can push this out in the near future as it really is a film that will certainly sell well on the mainstream market if pushed in the same way as Oldboy, The Host et al.

Of Kim Ji-Woon's work, the most satisfying remains A Tale of Two Sisters.

Spoiler

although the tacked on ending was very unnecessary and the cheap scare was very out of place with the piece as a whole.

Saying that, I had an absolute blast watching The Good The Bad The Weird (despite its slightly overlong runtime). It has a hell of a lot of energy and was enormously ridiculous, and whilst it falls short in certain areas (namely, the plot hung by a tether at times, certain character arcs were not addressed well despite the weight put upon the mystery of some of them etc) it remains a startlingly fun and exciting ride for the majority.

And The Quiet Family is fine but lacks the charisma and audacity of Miike's Happiness of the Katakuri's (which remains my personal favourite of Miike's oevre).

As an overall feeling, I would be very surprised to see any of Kim Ji-Woon's films end up in the collection. He hasn't yet accomplished a piece as impressive as Memories of Murder, and lacks the auterist characteristics of other Korean directors such as Chan-Wook Park, Il-gon Song or Kim Ki-Duk. Whilst i'm interested to see where he is heading with each film experience, I don't think he has hit those truly impressive levels yet.

[Finch]

Saw Still Walking this afternoon and it was quite an experience - the sooner Criterion release this wonderful film, the better.

[tajmahal]

Interestingly I note that the director's first film, The Quiet Family, is apparently a more straight forward version thriller of escalating calamities that Takashi Miike later took to insane absurdity in The Happiness of the Katakuris

The Quiet Family is a very black comedy, and very much a Korean black comedy. Perhaps Shallow Grave would be a fair starting point, though Quiet Family's humour is a bit a more 'slapstick' in some scenes.

[fiddlesticks]

Maybe we need a "Films of Kim Ji-woon" thread, since I believe the only title germane to this thread is The Good, The Bad, The Weird.

[reassurance]

On the Forthcoming Criterion List, I saw that Andrea Arnold was mentioned without any titles after her name. As she's only made two features and one of them, Fish Tank, was released theatrically by IFC in January, is it safe to assume that it'll be released by Criterion?

[Jeff]

On the Forthcoming Criterion List, I saw that Andrea Arnold was mentioned without any titles after her name. As she's only made two features and one of them, Fish Tank, was released theatrically by IFC in January, is it safe to assume that it'll be released by Criterion?

Yes.

[TheGodfather]

One of the Tartan releases planned before their collapse - that I was most looking forward to - was the director's cut of A Bittersweet Life. Whilst I did enjoy the original cut, it worked only as scenes and ideas for me, but as a whole, felt fractured and inconsistent. I was hoping to see if the director's cut could shed some light onto why the film seemed so incomplete and rushed for me. Hopefully Palisades Tartan can push this out in the near future as it really is a film that will certainly sell well on the mainstream market if pushed in the same way as Oldboy, The Host et al.

The director`s cut for A Bittersweet Life is released in Korea in a great edition, here, with Englisch subs as well.
There used to be a nice digipack but I think it was first press only. Brilliant film.

[bigP]

Many thanks for the link TheGodfather, i'll pick this up asap. Do you own this version by any chance? I'm curious as to whether the runtime given is correct or whether that includes the second discs total running time aswell?

[JHunter]

Many thanks for the link TheGodfather, i'll pick this up asap. Do you own this version by any chance? I'm curious as to whether the runtime given is correct or whether that includes the second discs total running time aswell?

I have the original digipak release from Korea. The runtime is 119 minutes. One of my favorite Korean films of all time. Well-worth seeking out. If Criterion could release it (especially on Blu-ray), it would make my year.

[perkizitore]

I would wait for this to be released on blu-ray.

[TheGodfather]

Many thanks for the link TheGodfather, i'll pick this up asap. Do you own this version by any chance? I'm curious as to whether the runtime given is correct or whether that includes the second discs total running time aswell?

well I don`t own this version, I own the first press digipack.
As JHunter said, the running time is 119 minutes. I have to say though that I don`t know if this version is much different compared to the theatrical version as I haven`t seen that one.

[bigP]

Thanks for the help JHunter and the Godfather, I'll happily pick this up. It's interesting to see that it has a slightly shorter runtime than the theatrical release, and I expect that perhaps one day we may see a director's cut of The Good The Bad The Wierd based upon Ji-Woon Kim's comment on The Good The Bad The Weird And The Vicious: Interview With Director And The Cast extra feature on the UK release that whilst he was pleased with the film, he regretted including a certain scene that greatly slowed the pace that had remained consistent up until that point.

Spoiler

It is the scene where Yoon Tae-Goo visits the opium house and is imprisoned

As the director's cut of ABL is marginally shorter, I am wondering if he is perhaps rushed through the editing process to get the film available for release (both ABL and TGTBTW played at Cannes so perhaps it was a rush for this reason, although, I am guessing they may have been released domestically before this and release dates are strictly adhered to)?

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Which version of TGTBTW is on the UK release? There's already two cuts of the film, the Korean domestic cut and a shorter version prepared for international markets. Apparently neither version is identical to the Cannes cut (which premiered over a month ahead of the Korean release).

[bigP]

Which version of TGTBTW is on the UK release? There's already two cuts of the film, the Korean domestic cut and a shorter version prepared for international markets. Apparently neither version is identical to the Cannes cut (which premiered over a month ahead of the Korean release).

The UK release is the International Cut but it has the Korean ending as a deleted scene (as well as a few other deleted scenes that may or may not be in the Korean and/or Cannes cut - I haven't seen these yet, and haven't looked into what differences occur with each version).

For those not wanting to wait to find out if Criterion will pick this up, most online stores have the UK editions very cheap, with the Blu-Ray under £7 and the 2-Disc DVD under £4.

[Flike]

Is there any actual indication that Criterion would want the film, or only hopeful speculation?

[John Edmond]

Actually the UK release is a censored version of the International Cut. A lot of the horse falls were removed from the pre-finale chase sequence - I'm guessing wires were used to trip the horses.

[Jacey Cockrobin]

I've been really happy with the Criterion/IFC deal so far. I was glad to see some of my favorite films of the last few years (Gommorrah, Revanche, Hunger) added to the collection. I was disappointed they didn't release In The Loop, but am excited about the prospect of Von Trier's Antichrist. I would even love to see them release something weird and fun like Human Centipede, which IFC is distributing. The film has a definite Cronenberg vibe, and I don't think it would be completely out of place.

[TMDaines]

Would have been a good trolling attempt provided:

A) It wasn't your first post,

B) Someone hadn't done the exact same thing on Criterion's Facebook page.

[Jacey Cockrobin]

Would have been a good trolling attempt provided:

A) It wasn't your first post,

B) Someone hadn't done the exact same thing on Criterion's Facebook page.

Actually, I'm being quite sincere. It was a film I really enjoyed and would love to see it get a Criterion release.

[Nothing]

Actually, I'm being quite sincere. It was a film I really enjoyed and would love to see it get a Criterion release.

No, the trolling was referring to Hunger and the disasterous IFC deal in such positive terms.

[ShellOilJunior]

Any rumors of Criterion handling the Red Riding Trilogy (IFC)?

[peerpee]

Haven't seen this anywhere else on the forum:

IFC Films has launched the genre label IFC Midnight and will debut four new films each month on VOD and premiere select titles simultaneously in theatres and on VOD.

The company said an IFC Midnight branded line of Blu-ray and DVD product will be distributed through an arrangement with MPI Media Group.

The initial roster of IFC Midnight titles include Tom Six’s The Human Centipede, Daniel Monzon’s Cell 211, Jake West’s Doghouse, Nicolas Winding Refn’s Valhalla Rising, and Gaspar Noe’s Enter The Void.

“Many of our most successful VOD titles are those that might fall under the Midnight label - not just films that are straight up horror, erotic arthouse or genre films but also ones that shock audiences, push boundaries and stir up controversy - so officially creating IFC Midnight was the logical next step,” IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring said.

“While we as a company continue to focus on a diverse range of films, this is one particular area which we are going to heavily brand and promote.”

from screendaily.com

Surprised that the Noe isn't a Criterion (when something like FISH TANK is).