Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[yoloswegmaster]

It seems like Criterion has taken some liberty with their release of Mirror.

How have they taken liberties with it?

[Big Ben]

It seems like Criterion has taken some liberty with their release of Mirror.

How have they taken liberties with it?

I imagine it has to do with the pink in the sky. For whatever reason I've seen people debate online for years about what color the sky is supposed to be in the shot itself.

[domino harvey]

***ROUND UP RODEO UPDATE***

I interrupt this topic to shoehorn in a belated congrats to barbarella satyricon for correctly guessing two of the titles announced this month. Unfortunately, with the delay, the arena was already booked, so they win a glamorous, all expenses paid (so long as those expenses fit on this partially-redeemed $10 Visa gift card my grandmother gave me) trip to glamorous Rodeo Drive. Special consolation feathered pashminas and $350 white t-shirts go out to Bressonaire (of course) and cowboydan for their singular guesses of announced titles. When will Minkin return and save us all from the ignominy of me running this?!? Soon, we all hope!

[yoloswegmaster]

It seems like Criterion has taken some liberty with their release of Mirror.

How have they taken liberties with it?

I imagine it has to do with the pink in the sky. For whatever reason I've seen people debate online for years about what color the sky is supposed to be in the shot itself.

That's fine and all but I'm not sure how that falls on Criterion when they weren't even behind the restoration.

[FrauBlucher]

***ROUND UP RODEO UPDATE***

When will Minkin return and save us all from the ignominy of me running this?!? Soon, we all hope!

[A Tempted Christ]

That's fine and all but I'm not sure how that falls on Criterion when they weren't even behind the restoration.

They weren't behind the restoration of Stalker either but they replaced the somewhat grey look of the monochrome scenes of that film with a saturated yellow tint in their release. See here. My reference point here is the French Blu-ray because it's almost untouched compared to the video on Mosfilm's YouTube channel. They may not have any association with the restoration of a film but I think when they license it they can do whatever they want with it. I could be wrong.

[barbarella satyricon]

...

[FrauBlucher]

It's been two years since we had a Harold Lloyd. I would think that another one should come this year. What's likely?..... Is Girl Shy the last of his 1920's top tier features?

[therewillbeblus]

I’d kill for The Sin of Harold Diddlebock which would also give us another Preston Sturges

[bottlesofsmoke]

It's been two years since we had a Harold Lloyd. I would think that another one should come this year. What's likely?..... Is Girl Shy the last of his 1920's top tier features?

I know Kevin Brownlow is a big fan of For Heaven’s Sake, which is streaming on the Channel, for whatever that’s worth. I do wonder what they plan to do with the several Lloyd features that are around an hour in length and would hardly seem like something they’d release on their own. Those and the sound films would make a fun box set, especially if Diddlebock is included!

[FlickeringWindow]

Here's what was on the New Line box set from the early 2000s and what's been released from it so far...

3/13 shorts included as extras on disc releases, plus four exclusive to Criterion Channel
4/11 silent features released so far on disc, plus three exclusive to Criterion Channel (two remastered)
All four sound features on set on Criterion Channel (Feet First has newer transfer)
6 shorts exclusive to Criterion releases plus one Channel exclusive

Short Films:
An Eastern Westerner (1918) - on The Freshman
Ask Father (1919) - on Criterion Channel
From Hand to Mouth (1919)
Bumping Into Broadway (1919) - on Speedy
Billy Blazes Esq. (1919) - on Criterion Channel
Now or Never (1921)
High and Dizzy (1920) - on The Freshman
Haunted Spooks (1920)
Get Out and Get Under (1920)
Number, Please? (1920) - on Criterion Channel
Among Those Present (1920)
I Do (1920)
Never Weaken (1921) - on Criterion Channel

Silent Features:
A Sailor Made Man (1921)
Grandma’s Boy (1922)
Dr. Jack (1922) - on Criterion Channel
Safety Last! (1923) - Available on Blu/DVD
Why Worry? (1923) - newly remastered on Criterion Channel
Girl Shy (1924)
Hot Water (1924)
The Freshman (1925) - Available on Dual Format
For Heaven’s Sake (1926) - newly remastered on Criterion Channel
The Kid Brother (1927) - Available on Blu/DVD
Speedy (1928) - Available on Blu/DVD

Sound Features:
Feet First (1930) - newer transfer on Criterion Channel
Movie Crazy (1932) - on Criterion Channel
The Cat’s Paw (1934) - on Criterion Channel
The Milky Way (1936) - on Criterion Channel

Not on the New Line DVD set:
Over the Fence (1917) - on The Kid Brother
That’s Him (1918) - on The Kid Brother
Take a Chance (1918) - on Safety Last!
Just Neighbors (1919) - on Criterion Channel
The Marathon (1919) - on The Freshman
Young Mr. Jazz (1919) - on Safety Last!
His Royal Slyness (1920) - on Safety Last!
Welcome Danger (1929) [feature] - on Criterion Channel

Almost would make more sense to do a big box for Lloyd at this point.

[Speller]

I would love upgrades to The Devil and Daniel Webster and Fiend Without a Face...any rumors swirling around those ?

[domino harvey]

Bressonaire has guessed the Devil and Daniel Webster before, so I’d place that bet

[ftsoh]

Almost would make more sense to do a big box for Lloyd at this point.

This and the Chaplin's too.

[aox]

I'm kind of surprised they haven't assembled a Chaplin box given the Olympics, Fellini, and Bergman boxes. I speculate that monetizing the individual BD releases has surely plateaued at this point. They have the rights to everything, right?

[zedz]

Restoration Trailer for Mirror

How badly did they fuck up the color timing on this one...?

Those colours look exactly like the newly struck 35 mm print I watched multiple times in the early nineties. Beautiful.

[Calvin]

I'm kind of surprised they haven't assembled a Chaplin box given the Olympics, Fellini, and Bergman boxes. I speculate that monetizing the individual BD releases has surely plateaued at this point. They have the rights to everything, right?

Criterion were credited with a new restoration of The Great Dictator at last year's Il Cinema Ritrovato so I would not be surprised if there's a Chaplin box this year for the centenary of The Kid, his first feature.

[Cinephrenic]

We need a Fassbinder set.

[justeleblanc]

We need a Fassbinder set.

We do. Is there a comprehensive list of all the Fassbinder titles that have received restorations so far and which ones are planned?

[beamish14]

We need a Fassbinder set.

We do. Is there a comprehensive list of all the Fassbinder titles that have received restorations so far and which ones are planned?

Is this it?
Fassbinder and Oshima Nagisa boxes are long, long overdue. It's fun speculating about which titles should get their own spines vs. which
are the Eclipse-bound.

Querelle is StudioCanal, no? Editor Juliane Lorenz has said that a longer, superior cut still exists.

[therewillbeblus]

I'd be just fine with a Fassbinder set excluding Querelle

[beamish14]

Is Lili Marleen still unavailable due to a rights issue? I'd love to have both the English and Deutsch cuts in one place.

[goblinfootballs]

We need a Fassbinder set.

We do. Is there a comprehensive list of all the Fassbinder titles that have received restorations so far and which ones are planned?

Is this it?
Fassbinder and Oshima Nagisa boxes are long, long overdue. It's fun speculating about which titles should get their own spines vs. which
are the Eclipse-bound.

Querelle is StudioCanal, no? Editor Juliane Lorenz has said that a longer, superior cut still exists.

It's with Janus. Opens with a Janus logo on the Criterion Channel. For some reason on the Janus website it doesn't come up with you search "Rainer Werner Fassbinder" but does come up with you search "Querelle." I know not about the status of a longer cut.

[Stefan Andersson]

+1 vote for a Fassbinder set, hopefully including some of his TV work.

Also, +1 vote for an Ozu box. I think one of his films are with Daiei (can´t remember the title right now); could be a problem including it in a box of Toho films. Maybe a standalone release would be possible?
Including films made by others from Ozu scripts would also be very attractive. Tanaka Kinuyo directed Tsuki wa noborinu (1955); also The Radish and the Carrot (Daikon to Ninjin, 1965), made by Minoru Shibya.
On ImdB, Ozu also has co-wrier credit on Danshun (1966, Noboru Nakamura).

I wonder if any Fassbinder and Ozu sets could be made region-free, or be a UK release also?

[Big Ben]

Still waiting for that box set of Oshima's Youth Trilogy. Oh and Boy. Where the heck is Boy?