Criterion and IFC

[sir_luke]

Also Time Out of Mind starring Richard Gere

[ianungstad]

Both of these films got mostly mixed to negative reviews from critics.

[ianungstad]

Some very interesting news:

IFC Films will be theatrically releasing restored versions of Walerian Borowczyk's The Beast and Immoral Tales. The Playlist has restoration trailers and the IFC posters posted on their blog:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/ ... s-20141124" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't see how Criterion would turn these down.

Arrow USA is releasing Borowczyk's Dr. Jekyll and His Women next year too.

[criterion10]

I wonder if Criterion would go the whole nine yards and even try to license out the other restored Boro flicks featured on recent Arrow's box set.

[ianungstad]

I actually thought these would be released by Arrow USA. Guess not.

IFC doesn't usually pick up repertory titles. I think the last one was Shoah.

[ianungstad]

IFC announced today that they have acquired US rights to the new Jacques Audiard film that's currently filming. It's currently untitled but listed on imdb as "Erran", Will probably debut at Cannes. I really liked Rust and Bone and A Prophet. As long as the film turns out good; I'm sure Criterion would love to work with Audiard.

[ianungstad]

Fantastic trailer for Peter Strickland's The Duke of Burgundy which is opening in January.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EohaoijE_cI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ashirg]

While Criterion has mostly ignored IFC's genre offerings; word on Jennifer Kent's The Babadook has been excellent. After Sundance it's sitting at a pretty lofty 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and 88% on metacritic. I haven't read a less than excellent review yet.

The Babadook is being released by Scream Factory on April 14.

[Jeff]

The Babadook is being released by Scream Factory on April 14.

That's surprising. I really thought Criterion might end up with The Babadook. Between this and the Paramount Boyhood release, I wonder if IFC's original agreement with MPI and Criterion has expired and they're free to pursue other options. The presumed Two Days, One Night clue at least gives hope that the relationship will continue on some level, even if IFC releases don't seem quite like the foregone conclusion they once did.

[knives]

Though of course it should be noted that even when it was just the two companies many very popular IFC films were skipped over making this choice seem more rough for MPI than Criterion especially with Boyhood confirmed in a wonky way.

[ianungstad]

The Babadook is being released by Scream Factory on April 14.

That's surprising. I really thought Criterion might end up with The Babadook. Between this and the Paramount Boyhood release, I wonder if IFC's original agreement with MPI and Criterion has expired and they're free to pursue other options. The presumed Two Days, One Night clue at least gives hope that the relationship will continue on some level, even if IFC releases don't seem quite like the foregone conclusion they once did.

The relationship between Criterion and IFC is a strange one. Criterion is more than happy to release many IFC films well over a year past their theatrical release but when Janus acquires a contemporary film like Revanche, Le Havre, The Great Beauty; they more or less stick to a tradional release window. This has probably hurt the relationship in some capacity. (especially for the more commercially successful films.)

As for speculation...I'll toss this out there. Mathieu Amalric's The Blue Room seems to have been "skipped" over by MPI. It got solid reviews at Cannes. Maybe he's had enough visits with the Criterion staff that they decided to release his directorial effort.

[criterion10]

So, it seems like Clouds of Sils Maria is somehow going to..... Paramount (wtf?)

[Jeff]

So, it seems like Clouds of Sils Maria is somehow going to..... Paramount (wtf?)

The article just mentions that "select" titles will go to Paramount. Sounds like Paramount is just taking over the MPI role of handling the stuff Criterion doesn't want (which is probably 90% of it). I'm not especially surprised they passed on Clouds of Sils Maria. Criterion is handling Two Days, One Night in August, so I'm confident their relationship with IFC is intact.

[Ashirg]

Guess Boyhood was a bit hit for IFC Films/Paramount deal to continue that relationship...

[RSTooley]

Well, shit. I was really looking forward to a Criterion release of Clouds of Sils Maria. I guess this calls into question why Olivier Assayas was recently at the Criterion offices.

[PfR73]

Unless it's like Boyhood where Paramount releases a DVD/Blu-Ray upfront and a Criterion release will come later.

[MongooseCmr]

Unless it's like Boyhood where Paramount releases a DVD/Blu-Ray upfront and a Criterion release will come later.

I'll believe these exist when I see them for someone other than Wes Anderson. Still waiting for the BITWC "deluxe" (read: Criterion standard) release

[bradass]

I have reason to believe that the Paramount Clouds of Sils Maria will have no features, so perhaps there could be a simultaneous or subsequent release. In a perfect world, Assayas was there to contribute to a release of L'eau froide...

[bainbridgezu]

IFC has acquired Matteo Garrone's Tale of Tales.

I wonder if this is on Paramount's radar, or if Criterion's relationship with Garrone might merit it an eventual release.

[John Doe]

Shout! is releasing The Duke of Burgundy in September.

[Minkin]

Shout! is releasing The Duke of Burgundy in September.

Not surprising - given Criterion passed on Berberian Sound Studio - but this is no less disappointing. I suppose IFC probably wasn't happy with Criterion passing on everything or taking 2+ years to release a title (well, as though Criterion needed anything more on their plate), thus is increasingly turning to Shout + Paramount. Although the Paramount deal might be for an initial run, with Criterion handling a later edition (See Boyhood, and possibly Clouds of Sils Maria).

[criterion10]

Doesn't IFC also have the rights to Dheepan? If so, that will be the clear test of the current strength of their relationship.

[domino harvey]

Anything that gets IFC titles actually released on Blu-ray instead of DVD only is a good move, I don't care who the label is

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Shout! is releasing The Duke of Burgundy in September.

Wow - not only did they carry over some good extras, they made it dual-format as well!

[flyonthewall2983]

Here's the review for the disc already out in the UK. The deleted scenes total a whopping 46 minutes.