'Forthcoming' Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.2

[perkizitore]

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence and The Thin Red Line on DVD & BLU-RAY, plus Charade and Breathless get the HD bump!

[mfunk9786]

An all-horror month is an amazing idea:

Hausu DVD and BD
Cronos DVD and BD
Antichrist DVD and BD
Videodrome BD reissue
Kwaidan BD reissue
Mothras and Madmen [Japanese Genre Films] Eclipse set

Bet they'll be announced for October, in time for Halloween.

THERE'S STILL A CHANCE THAT THIS COULD HAPPEN NEXT MONTH! WOOOOOOO.

[Tom Hagen]

I hope it does; my pocketbook could use a break.

Edit: except you added Kwaidan. Damn it, I'd still have to get that. Never picked up the MOC.

[What A Disgrace]

I'm in for Thin Red Line on Blu, and Allan King sounds fascinating.

[Rupert Pupkin]

I'm so happy with Breathless, but I don't get it....

StudioCanal will release a blu-ray of Breathless. :
http://www.highdefdiscnews.com/?p=36930" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Will the Criterion be removed before its released like it happened for Contempt ?
(they probably are aware of that, but I'm afraid of a very limited time availability like it was for Pierrot le Fou...)

[CSM126]

Studio Canal has nothing to do with Breathless stateside from what I can tell. Their logo is nowhere on the DVD package (but Genius Entertainment is).

[jaredsap]

Studio Canal has nothing to do with Breathless stateside from what I can tell. Their logo is nowhere on the DVD package (but Genius Entertainment is).

StudioCanal did the new restoration, but it's true they don't own the film stateside.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Studio Canal has nothing to do with Breathless stateside from what I can tell. Their logo is nowhere on the DVD package (but Genius Entertainment is).

yeah I do remember- I have checked my own DVD box set of Breathless which I bought when it came out and there's no StudioCanal logo.
But with the unreleased Contempt, the deleted Pierrot Le Fou and the soon-to-be-deleted Une Femme Est Une Femme I'm concerned with this release.

[HistoryProf]

Very very interesting that TRL and Mr. Lawrence are both listed at $29.95 for 2 disc DVDs and $39.95 for blu...would be a fantastic development if it holds. While i've never been one to complain about the higher prices, it seems particularly appropriate for titles like TRL, and could certainly help move a few more units. Frankly, I'm surprised they have remained committed to the $30/40 structure till now when everyone else has lowered regular dvd prices considerably. Remember when the Blues Brothers and Dead Man cost $35?

Of course, it's probably a mistake and will be fixed by tonight.

[What A Disgrace]

Well, the new Black Narcissus and Black Orpheus DVDs are a lower tier price range, too, despite having upper tier level extras.

[Jeff]

Very very interesting that TRL and Mr. Lawrence are both listed at $29.95 for 2 disc DVDs and $39.95 for blu...would be a fantastic development if it holds.

I'm thinking that this might actually be a new pricing structure, and part of a very gradual eventual phasing out of standard DVDs for most new titles (like MoC). The production and replication costs for DVDs have dropped significantly, and DVDs probably only make up 30-40% of sales for Criterion now (with that number dropping rapidly). I could see them going to $29.95 for most one or two disc standard DVD sets, $39.95 for most single-disc Blu-rays, and $49.95 for two-disc Blu-ray sets, with the eventual possibility of doing $49.95 for even loaded single disc Blu-rays with commentary tracks. Within a couple of years, standard DVDs from them will probably be rare outside of the Eclipse line, and they will have subtly raised their two price points ten dollars each without seeming like they increased anything.

[Cinephrenic]

This all we getting?

[What A Disgrace]

I'm surprised we're getting an Eclipse set, myself. Did we ever before have three Eclipse sets in as many months?

I'm actually more excited about the Eclipse set than anything else. It isn't often that Criterion puts out something I've never heard of before, and rarer still that those films sound so compelling.

[matrixschmatrix]

I have to say, this is the only month out of the past three or four where I wasn't especially excited- I don't really have the money to re-buy things I already have on blu, and the two new releases for the main line don't do much for me. (I'm still a little torn over the price point difference that's been cropping up between blu and dvd, too.)

On the other hand: one weak month out of four is pretty damn good.

Does anyone know, are they still doing Essential Art House? It looks like they haven't released any new ones for a while, and there's nothing in the coming soon page for it.

[mfunk9786]

You know, you can sell your DVD versions and use that money towards the BD versions. Still not sure why people complain about upgrading Criterions of all things, at least the DVD versions have kept their value, which is more than one can say for your run-of-the-mill studio release.

[matrixschmatrix]

You know, you can sell your DVD versions and use that money towards the BD versions. Still not sure why people complain about upgrading Criterions of all things, at least the DVD versions have kept their value, which is more than one can say for your run-of-the-mill studio release.

I'm not angry that they do it- I just meant that since I don't usually re-buy (and even with selling the old ones you generally wind up significantly down on the deal) almost half of this month's announcements don't do much for me.

I mean, complaining that I already have the two they're re-releasing is just complaining that chance broke against me, since I can pretty confidently say Criterion doesn't base their choices on what to put on Blu on what I own. Still sucks for me, since now I don't even get the chance to grab a cheap copy of the dvd when people upgrade.

[HistoryProf]

You know, you can sell your DVD versions and use that money towards the BD versions. Still not sure why people complain about upgrading Criterions of all things, at least the DVD versions have kept their value, which is more than one can say for your run-of-the-mill studio release.

exactly...it's pretty darn easy to get $15-25 for your sDVD if you do it early before the announcement spreads. that makes the upgrade cost pretty minimal. Thankfully, Breathless is another blu re-release that I had held out on like BN and Red Shoes were, so all will be first times for me

[tavernier]

No wacky C for Bellocchio's Vincere, which has been announced as coming from "IFC Entertainment" on July 27 (along with The Art of the Steal, The Uninvited and something called 2:37). No Blu either.

[TMDaines]

No wacky C for Bellocchio's Vincere, which has been announced as coming from "IFC Entertainment" on July 27 (along with The Art of the Steal, The Uninvited and something called 2:37). No Blu either.

Didn't get a Blu in Italy either unfortunately.

[felipe]

Considering it's been released in blu in Europe, is there any chance of Criterion releasing Sunrise, or Fox would never pass the rights of such a profitable film?

[knives]

Just buy the perfect MOC, it's region 0 and can not be topped.

[captveg]

Considering it's been released in blu in Europe, is there any chance of Criterion releasing Sunrise, or Fox would never pass the rights of such a profitable film?

I think the film is more prestigious for Fox than profitable.

[zedz]

Just buy the perfect MOC, it's region 0 and can not be topped.

This is true, mainly because Fox is much more likely to licence a 'big' title to a UK label like MoC than to somebody in its own backyard, just as the BBC seems far more willing to licence stuff to US labels than to the BFI or MoC.

[criterionsnob]

Remembering Peter Brunette post mentions a delayed release of Senso.

[Matt]

So according to a compatriot of mine who went to an Agnes Varda screening at the American Cinematheque last night with a Q&A with Ms. Varda, she said that she's trying to get Criterion to put out "Mural Murals", "Lions Love", and a couple of her other films in this country and the Criterion isn't biting because they figure they're not very profitable. She says shes still trying though.

Something must have changed in the year since the Fop posted this because Criterion is the distributor listed for several of the Varda films available on Mubi, including Documenteur, Lion's Love, Oncle Yanco, and Black Panthers, all of which would make for a great "Agnes Varda in California" Eclipse set (provided they can also include Mur Murs). Everything else by Varda that they're listed as the distributor for was released in the 4 by Agnes Varda box set.