Criterion and IFC

[Jeff]

I know Antichrist is still upcoming, but other than that, are there any hard confirms?

Fish Tank should be out by the end of the year.

[ianungstad]

IFC announces another Cannes pick up: Im Sang-soo's The Housemaid.

If Criterion wanted to handle the dvd/blu, it would make for a nice paired release with the original, which Criterion has via the ouput deal with Scorsese's World Film Foundation. (Though we haven't seen a single release scheduled. Odd.)

It seems like a strong possibility to me. I'd bet money on Carlos, Certified Copy and The Housemaid as Criterion releases. Maybes would be : Princess of Montpensier, Life During Wartime, Enter the Void. Anyone have any predictions about forthcoming IFC titles from their new release slate?

[Jeff]

Maybes would be : Princess of Montpensier, Life During Wartime, Enter the Void. Anyone have any predictions about forthcoming IFC titles from their new release slate?

Enter the Void was one of the titles coming from the "IFC Midnight" brand on MPI. I suppose that could change though, or even overlap with Criterion.

[ianungstad]

True. I brought that up in the Enter the Void thread as well. Chances are pretty slim, since IFC has other plans for the title with their "MIDNIGHT" launch. I was just thinking that since there's been a lot of requests for it, Criterion might have an incentive to talk with IFC about altering their release plans. It's relatively early in the game. The film hasn't even been released theatrically yet. Slim chance.

[CSM126]

I'm crossing my fingers for Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. It's a tremendous film and I'd like to see it get a nice special edition. And I think it would probably be Criterion's only shot at having, arguably, the most important female entertainer of the last century in their canon.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

I'm crossing my fingers for Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. It's a tremendous film and I'd like to see it get a nice special edition. And I think it would probably be Criterion's only shot at having, arguably, the most important female entertainer of the last century in their canon.

They can always license Spaceballs from MGM!

[ianungstad]

It could mean nothing but I sent an email to MPI Media:

IFC issued a press release in the spring announcing a new cult label Midnight. I just want to confirm that Enter the Void will be released by MPI in this new line?

The customer servie rep replied:

Dear Ian,
We do not have that on our release list..

edit: Not IFC related but in a seperate email, MPI confirmed that the reason their dvd and blu releases of Texas Chainsaw Massacre were discontinued is because the company no longer has the rights to the film.

[zedz]

I'm crossing my fingers for Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. It's a tremendous film and I'd like to see it get a nice special edition. And I think it would probably be Criterion's only shot at having, arguably, the most important female entertainer of the last century in their canon.

It's a very enjoyable film, but I can't really see it as a Criterion. Their track record with contemporary documentaries is practically non-existent, and even with older ones they tend to go for event / canonical choices. But surely there's no risk of the Rivers film missing out on a decent DVD release, and I'd love to see the outtakes!

[Flike]

edit: Not IFC related but in a seperate email, MPI confirmed that the reason their dvd and blu releases of Texas Chainsaw Massacre were discontinued is because the company no longer has the rights to the film.

This might sound really ignorant, but what is the relationship between IFC and MPI? Could IFC have the pull to get MPI to offer something like that to Criterion in exchange for money (obviously) or Criterion passing over a big ticket item that MPI would want to distribute?

[ianungstad]

edit: Not IFC related but in a seperate email, MPI confirmed that the reason their dvd and blu releases of Texas Chainsaw Massacre were discontinued is because the company no longer has the rights to the film.

This might sound really ignorant, but what is the relationship between IFC and MPI? Could IFC have the pull to get MPI to offer something like that to Criterion in exchange for money (obviously) or Criterion passing over a big ticket item that MPI would want to distribute?

IFC films has two distributors for dvd/blu. Criterion and MPI. If it's an IFC title, it will be released by one or the other.

[jaredsap]

Maybes would be : Life During Wartime

LIFE DURING WARTIME seems essential to me. No Solondz in the collection is a major contemporary oversight imo, and as you know, some consider WARTIME to be Solondz's best ever. There's never been a single good DVD release of any of his films. Can't imagine why Criterion would let this go if it's up to them.

[Tribe]

LIFE DURING WARTIME seems essential to me. No Solondz in the collection is a major contemporary oversight imo, and as you know, some consider WARTIME to be Solondz's best ever. There's never been a single good DVD release of any of his films. Can't imagine why Criterion would let this go if it's up to them.

I agree that Solondz' work certainly has a place in the Criterion Collection...but I just finished watching Life During Wartime, and I think it's far from essential. Hardly his best work. He wants to keep playing up the same themes from Happiness...but they just ring forced and lifeless in Life During Wartime.

[ianungstad]

Maybes would be : Life During Wartime

LIFE DURING WARTIME seems essential to me. No Solondz in the collection is a major contemporary oversight imo, and as you know, some consider WARTIME to be Solondz's best ever. There's never been a single good DVD release of any of his films. Can't imagine why Criterion would let this go if it's up to them.

Agreed. The only reason I said maybe is because I'm not sure if Solondz would participate in a Criterion release or not. A few people have stated that he has a no supplement policy on his dvds. I can't actually find any such quote online, so not really sure if that's a myth or not. People used to say the same thing about Malick until Criterion started releasing loaded editions of his films. The discs could be barebones simply due to a lack of interest by Sony and Lions Gate.

[mfunk9786]

Note to Criterion: don't bother releasing Life During Wartime unless you're giving us a Blu of Happiness too, which would be an approximately 1,000,000% improvement upon the existing edition.

[sammy h]

Maybe Criterion will release Daddy Longlegs, which is slowly rolling out from IFC right now. That's a great movie-one of the most interesting films to come out in awhile, and it features one of the best leading performances this year by Ronnie Bronstein. My fear is that because it deceptively looks off the cuff in it's construction, it wont get the attention it deserves and will wrongly be lumped in with the Mumblecore crowd. Which would be a shame. this is a smart, subtle, well constructed piece of work that deserves more exposure.

[domino harvey]

"Maybe" nothing, it'll never happen

[sammy h]

Hahaha! Domino, why so certain?

[ianungstad]

I have serious doubts Criterion would be interested but IFC just made their first major purchase at the Toronto International Film Festival. They acquired the rights to SUPER (James Gunn). It's supposedly a superhero spoof in the vein of Kick-Ass starring Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Kevin Bacon and Liv Tyler. It's been getting raves from the cult/genre aficionados who saw the film at it's midnight-madness screening. I could see this being a hit for IFC.

I was/am hoping that they'll acquire more Criterion friendly titles that I'm interested in, that are lacking distribution. John Cameron Mitchell's Rabbit Hole in paritcular is a title that I hope IFC goes after. Others including Essential Killing, Tabloid, etc. would be nice.

[domino harvey]

You can watch a NSFW clip from Super here

[ianungstad]

Looks fun

Honestly, I'm a bit surprised it went to IFC. Supposedly a lot of studios were looking at picking the film up. It's had one of the best receptions of the various gala screenings so far.

[JHunter]

Looks fun

Honestly, I'm a bit surprised it went to IFC. Supposedly a lot of studios were looking at picking the film up. It's had one of the best receptions of the various gala screenings so far.

Didn't IFC start their "Midnight" line for genres films? Sounds like they picked it up for that.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Maybe Criterion will release Daddy Longlegs, which is slowly rolling out from IFC right now. That's a great movie-one of the most interesting films to come out in awhile, and it features one of the best leading performances this year by Ronnie Bronstein. My fear is that because it deceptively looks off the cuff in it's construction, it wont get the attention it deserves and will wrongly be lumped in with the Mumblecore crowd. Which would be a shame. this is a smart, subtle, well constructed piece of work that deserves more exposure.

Just noticed this post. Second this completely. The Safdie brothers are actually far superior than any Swanberg, Duplass or Katz. Daddy Longlegs would be an excellent addition to the collection and ranks among the best independent features in the last decade, but it'll probably be ignored and passed along as it's not by a big auteur or a big art house hit

[ianungstad]

Looks fun

Honestly, I'm a bit surprised it went to IFC. Supposedly a lot of studios were looking at picking the film up. It's had one of the best receptions of the various gala screenings so far.

Didn't IFC start their "Midnight" line for genres films? Sounds like they picked it up for that.

They did. Not really sure what this Midnight line is suppose to be. They issued a press release about it in the spring but so far I haven't seen any of the projects attached to the brand differentiated in any way from anything else IFC releases. There's no "midnight" listing on the site and the "midnight" branding on the dvd/blus has so far failed to materialize.

They seem to be making a pretty half-hearted effort with this venture. Same goes for "Sundance Selects". What's that all about?

[Perkins Cobb]

I just realized that Police, Adjective is still MIA on DVD (not even an announcement yet) nearly ten months after its theatrical release. Which makes me suspect that maybe it's headed for a taking-forever Criterion release akin to Antichrist, as opposed to the MPI route.

[ianungstad]

The Steven Soderbergh doc "And Everything is Going Fine" opens Dec.10 from IFC. Seems likely to be an eventual Criterion as part of a Spalding Gray set.