'Forthcoming' Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.2

[dad1153]

^^^ Spoiled by the 2010 releases, aren't we? "Broadcast News" (Blu) and "Army of Shadows" (surprised and glad it's on Blu) shall be mine, plus my mind is wide open to getting the other new-to-me releases. Not everyone has seen/owned every Criterion movie releases, and for them (i.e. me) the chance to start from scratch in high-def is tempting.

[agnamaracs]

Yes! Fuller upgrades! Next: Suzuki!

[dwk]

I wonder if the Robinson Crusoe on Mars upgrade means Criterion and Paramount have come to an agreement on Blu-ray upgrades for the rest of the Paramount titles that Criterion has licensed?

[oldsheperd]

^^^ Spoiled by the 2010 releases, aren't we? "Broadcast News" (Blu) and "Army of Shadows" (surprised and glad it's on Blu) shall be mine, plus my mind is wide open to getting the other new-to-me releases. Not everyone has seen/owned every Criterion movie releases, and for them (i.e. me) the chance to start from scratch in high-def is tempting.

I'm not spoiled. Like I said previously it's a bit of a hangover from the splendid October and November releases where a ton of new stuff has come out to January where there is only really one new CC release and an eclipse release. I'm looking forward to Robinson Crusoe on blu, the Sam Fullers I'll get on dvd and I'll get the Eclipse set. I already have Army of Shadows so I'm good with the dvd I have. I don't care for Brooks' movie work as a director so I think I'll skip Broadcast Snooze. I mean Broadcast News.

[ianungstad]

I agree that they should have offered more of a mix between new titles and upgrades. I really don't like double dipping, so I consider this month to be a disappointment. I'm still planning on buying three of the titles but overall excitement level is pretty low.

[Finch]

I think January 11 is a solid line-up: the Fuller reissues were well overdue and I'll be upgrading the Melville to Blu also. The Dearden set may well be my first Eclipse since last year's Shimizu and Nikkatsu sets so I'm not unhappy with their announcements. I understand the disappointment over the lack of genuinely new titles (only Broadcast News) though and agree that a lineup mostly consisting of Blu upgrades shouldn't become the norm (I say that as someone who loves Blu-Ray).

[Jun-Dai]

My guess is that something they were working on for January didn't make it. It almost seems as though there were a War Trilogy or something missing from the announcement.

That said, we've certainly gotten a bit spoiled when we consider the fact that there used to be a time when getting a fully featured 2-disc title, a pair of fully featured rereleases, and four new barebones titles would have been a good month. In this way, Eclipse has spoiled us, big time.

I'm also a bit disappointed by the lack of new "mainline" titles, but I'm sure Criterion put plenty of work into all seven of those films (I dunno how much work the Blu upgrades really would have been).

[fdm]

Yes! Fuller upgrades! Next: Suzuki!

Yes please.

[Doctor Sunshine]

Plus the DVD BBS set spilling over into December. They're slaving through the holidays and you're still not happy. Children separated from their parents just so you can watch Jack Nicholson berate a waitress in two formats, yet you remain unabated. What more do you jackals want? That's rhetorical and I'm just kidding. And I'd like that Suzuki thing too.

[Tom Hagen]

We're serving chicken salad on whole wheat toast for Christmas dinner at my house now.

[Cinephrenic]

From private source:

"Criterion will be releasing Robert M. Young's Alambrista! (1977). I know the commercial illustrator who was hired to do the cover art which was finalized a few months back. It's a fairly under the radar title - as no one has seemed to speculate about its release. Criterion is leveraging the Arizona Immigration law as the related hot topic., ... they provided a DVD-R working copy to the illustrator."

[movielocke]

My guess is that something they were working on for January didn't make it. It almost seems as though there were a War Trilogy or something missing from the announcement.

That said, we've certainly gotten a bit spoiled when we consider the fact that there used to be a time when getting a fully featured 2-disc title, a pair of fully featured rereleases, and four new barebones titles would have been a good month. In this way, Eclipse has spoiled us, big time.

I'm also a bit disappointed by the lack of new "mainline" titles, but I'm sure Criterion put plenty of work into all seven of those films (I dunno how much work the Blu upgrades really would have been).

yeah january has the following discs that will need to go through a full check disc process:

1) Naked Kiss Blu
2) Naked Kiss
3) Shock Corridor Blu
4) Shock Corridor
5) Broadcast News Blu
6) Broadcast News
7) Broadcast News disc2
8) Robinson Crusoe on Mars Blu
9) Army of Shadows Blu
10) Sapphire
11) League of Gentleman
12) All Night Long
13) Victim

Compare to January 2009
1) Paisan
2) Rome Open City
3) Germany Year Zero
4) Che blu
5) Che blu disc 2
6) Che
7) Che disc 2
8) Paris Texas blu
9) Paris Texas
10) Paris Texas dvd 2
11) 8 1/2 blu
12) Hotel Chambre etc
13) Redezous with Anna
14) je tu il elle

one disc difference between the two years. And, btw, the whole process of getting bluray out the door takes a LOT more time than a dvd title, even an identical dvd title, there are still a lot of issues with replication, and incompatibility that show up in the check disc stage, at least for my friends in dvd departments at the studios say so. Blu is still a very expensive process and in January 2009 they only had four bluray discs to check, in January 2010 they have five. Or look at November, a mammoth month which is so unusual it's once in a year (or once in many years) event, and they even pushed the BBS 9 disc dvd set to December:

1) Modern Times blu
2) Modern Times
3) Modern Times disc 2
4) Night of the Hunter blu
5) Night of the Hunter blu disc 2
6) Night of the Hunter
7) Night of the Hunter disc 2
8) Anti Christ blu
9) Antichrist
10) Antichrist disc 2
11) Easy Rider blu
12) Head blu
13) Five Easy Pieces blu
14) King of Marvin Gardens blu
15) Last Picture Show blu
16) A Safe Place Drive He Said blu

ten bluray discs, there are a lot of major studios that don't release that many new release bluray discs in a month!

I think their pace is pretty remarkable and this january is delivering quite a large amount of new content, I think the fact that this January is a big release month is obscured by the two Fuller titles being reissues to DVD and Bluray. Those two titles required just as much work as Broadcast News and Cronos, for example.

[foofighters7]

^ I simply do not care about how long it takes for blu compared to dvd. That's all well and good. Doesn't negate the fact they have too many blu upgrades/re-releases for Jan.

Instead of wasting time on putting out a freakin' Robinson Crusoe blu-ray, or Army of Shadows for that matter, release Victim on it's own with some extras. Put anything out other than those two.

Does the movie buying public really care that much to get RCOM on blu? Really?

[Cinephrenic]

I'd rather get more Bergman on Blu than monkeys in space... just sayin.

[Arrow]

Does the movie buying public really care that much to get RCOM on blu? Really?

I know quite a few people who don't own any other Criterions, but own this one. Of course all are science fiction fans that were young upon it's release. There may be decent market for it.

[HistoryProf]

From private source:

"Criterion will be releasing Robert M. Young's Alambrista! (1977). I know the commercial illustrator who was hired to do the cover art which was finalized a few months back. It's a fairly under the radar title - as no one has seemed to speculate about its release. Criterion is leveraging the Arizona Immigration law as the related hot topic., ... they provided a DVD-R working copy to the illustrator."

That's fantastic news. El Norte is one of the more under-rated releases of recent years. I saw Alambrista about 15 years ago and remember it being incredibly moving...even better than El Norte. Thanks for sharing.

[colinr0380]

I think their pace is pretty remarkable and this january is delivering quite a large amount of new content, I think the fact that this January is a big release month is obscured by the two Fuller titles being reissues to DVD and Bluray. Those two titles required just as much work as Broadcast News and Cronos, for example.

Absolutely, plus while having to adapt existing DVD extras for a Blu-Ray (e.g. Robinson Crusoe on Mars) is likely a big task in itself, the two Fullers should really be considered ground-up 'new' releases, since the originals were bare bones discs (except for a trailer), non-anamorphic and didn't even have subtitles!

[domino harvey]

From private source:

"Criterion will be releasing Robert M. Young's Alambrista! (1977). I know the commercial illustrator who was hired to do the cover art which was finalized a few months back. It's a fairly under the radar title - as no one has seemed to speculate about its release. Criterion is leveraging the Arizona Immigration law as the related hot topic., ... they provided a DVD-R working copy to the illustrator."

That's fantastic news. El Norte is one of the more under-rated releases of recent years. I saw Alambrista about 15 years ago and remember it being incredibly moving...even better than El Norte. Thanks for sharing.

I wonder if the artist is all that thankful thankful, since giving inside advance info to the board that is so easily traceable to the source is probably not that great an idea

[felipe]

Why is January such a big month? I assumed they wouldn't relase many titles in January, considering everyone pretty much blew their money on Christmas...

[PfR73]

Why is January such a big month? I assumed they wouldn't relase many titles in January, considering everyone pretty much blew their money on Christmas...

Gift cards & exchanges.

[captveg]

Has it occurred to anyone that perhaps - just perhaps - the extreme push from the customer base to have EVERY new release be on both formats has pushed some of their schedule for new releases down the pipe a bit more than they had originally planned?

Possible scenario: Customer base screams bloody murder when Von Sternberg silents aren't on Blu. They don't have the rights to these, but they do have the rights to 3-4 other titles they had planned on being DVD only that would see a release in Dec-Mar. Now that they've greenlit the Blu versions as well they have to push these titles a couple months down the line.

Just a thought....

[Brian C]

That's possible, captveg, but Criterion did say relatively early on in their Blu stage that the eventual goal was to have all new releases simultaneous on both formats. Perhaps overwhelming customer reaction pushed them in that direction faster than they anticipated but, aside from the Von Sternberg and Rossellini sets, the number of DVD-only releases has been declining pretty steadily since they entered the Blu market. By which I mean, their release pattern seems consistent with their stated goal.

[JAP]

It's likely that Richard III will get an upgrade/Blu-Ray release in the near future. The movie is listed as a 'Special Project' on The Film Foundation 2009 Annual Report (view/download here):

The film’s original VistaVision 8-perf negative will be scanned at 6K and a digital intermediate will be created to geometrically realign from the vertical eight perforation frame to a standard 35mm horizontal four perforation frame. Digital processing will address dirt and scratches and color correction. From the 4K files, a new digital negative will serve as the new preservation element. Restoration work is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

The restoration of RICHARD III is a collaboration between The Film Foundation, the BFI, Janus Films and Romulus Films. Grover Crisp of Sony Pictures Entertainment is technical advisor to the project.

[zedz]

Has it occurred to anyone that perhaps - just perhaps - the extreme push from the customer base to have EVERY new release be on both formats has pushed some of their schedule for new releases down the pipe a bit more than they had originally planned?

Possible scenario: Customer base screams bloody murder when Von Sternberg silents aren't on Blu. They don't have the rights to these, but they do have the rights to 3-4 other titles they had planned on being DVD only that would see a release in Dec-Mar. Now that they've greenlit the Blu versions as well they have to push these titles a couple months down the line.

Just a thought....

Possibly, but if there's any month's releases this reasoning doesn't apply to it's January's, since there are no contenders there which would ever have been DVD only. Criterion doesn't do DVD-only reissues any more, and the one new title is a big Hollywood film already available on DVD - going Blu on it is its raison d'etre.

[Magic Hate Ball]

It's likely that Richard III will get an upgrade/Blu-Ray release in the near future.

Great, now I can have all of its putrid ugliness on my screen in hideous 1080p.