Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[therewillbeblus]

I was gonna say, I know his oeuvre is thinner than a few of the fellow Cahiers, but I wouldn’t have guessed Rohmer would be the first of the bunch to have all his films on blu, which seems to be an approaching possibility

[Saturnome]

Doesn't the Potemkine set already feature all of his films?

I'd love a release of 4 aventures de Rainette et Mirabelle, it would have to be released on it's own as it's not part of any of Rohmer's cycle.

[therewillbeblus]

It's in the Arrow Academy set lumped in with the Comedies and Proverbs, and is indeed one of his very best films

[Saturnome]

And here I was waiting for some future american release of the Comedies and Provebs set, hoping it would include a film the Arrow release already have. Well, I'll buy it very soon.

[swo17]

Doesn't the Potemkine set already feature all of his films?

Yes, but a couple are DVD-only, some shorts are unsubbed, and many of the transfers could be bettered

[therewillbeblus]

And here I was waiting for some future american release of the Comedies and Provebs set, hoping it would include a film the Arrow release already have. Well, I'll buy it very soon.

I don’t believe the current in-print version carries that film, as it seems four of the ten in the LE were excluded once that went out of print. You may need to search for it from third party vendors

[JSC]

Concerning the feature films:

The Marquise of O, Perceval, Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle, and L'arbre, le maire et la médiathèque
were jettisoned from the original Arrow Comedies and Proverbs box set.

In the Potemkine set, The Lady and the Duke, Triple Agent and The Romance of Astrea and Celadon are
DVD only. The latter two were shot on 35 and 16mm respectively, so an upgrade would be nice. The only other
feature film not available (except in the Potemkine set) is Rendevous in Paris.

[Saturnome]

Oof... I get it now. Looking at the prices I see for the original Arrow set including the four additional films, it seems like I've missed my chance.

[bad future]

That pains me too... I’m hoping there’s someday an affordable blu-ray release of Reinette & Mirabelle, maybe if it’s ever released in the US, but that feels pretty remote when so many of his better-known films remain unreleased or out of print here, and Criterion has been sitting on Green Ray for a while (or at least Janus has had it for a while I think, though this could be pandemic-brain.)

[therewillbeblus]

Criterion seems pretty invested in him, I wouldn't be surprised if they released that and some of his middle films, especially given how well the Arrow set sold of which I'm sure they're aware

[senseabove]

The Potemkine set's entirely worth it if you want the less-bankable Rohmer features, even if only the features are English friendly. And if you get it for less than $250, which shouldn't be too hard, with 24 films, you're still coming out ahead compared to buying a bunch of smaller Criterion sets (barring an eventual Criterion version of the Potemkine box, at least).

The transfers that were newer in the Arrow set weren't night and day differences from the Potemkine version, unless you have very strong feelings about the contentious ARs, and iirc I preferred the Potemkines' colors... but I can't seem to find the Arrow/Potemkine caps comparisons I know I've come across before.

[JSC]

Plus, you get a couple of My Night at Maud's themed tea bags!

[Michael Kerpan]

I just wish the Potemkine set had subtitled the major extras at least.

[barryconvex]

I kick myself regularly for missing out on both those sets. Rainette et Mirabelle is probably the movie I wish I could see most and while $250-300 for 24 movies is a great deal for a lifetime of films it's still $250-300...

[yoloswegmaster]

Haven't looked through all of the latest additions to the channel buy Ann Hui's 'Boat People' opens up with the CC and Janus logo. It also looks to be sourced from a brand new restoration that looks quite stunning!

[DandyDancing]

Wolf's Hole also opens with the cc logo.

*Just checked Calamity too.

[jwd5275]

They actually added seven new Vera Chytilova titles, all of which begin with Criterion and Janus logos. In addition to Calamity and Wolf's Hole they added:

Bag of Fleas
TGM the Liberator
Prefab Story
Ceiling
Fruit of Paradise

[FrauBlucher]

I just noticed something weird. Three of Paramount's titles on blu-rays (but not DVDs) with Criterion are listed as Currently Unavailable on CC's site but yet have gone up for pre-order from Paramount... Rosemary's Baby, Days of Heaven and Don't Look Now. Coincidence?

[therewillbeblus]

Huh, wasn't expecting things to go in that direction. Hopefully this isn't evidence against the hopes of Paramount and Criterion having a new fruitful deal

[beamish14]

I just noticed something weird. Three of Paramount's titles on blu-rays (but not DVDs) with Criterion are listed as Currently Unavailable on CC's site but yet have gone up for pre-order from Paramount... Rosemary's Baby, Days of Heaven and Don't Look Now. Coincidence?

They were on Target's site but have been taken down.

I was looking forward to a fresh batch of Paramount titles like Leadbelly (all of Gordon Parks' films are on the Channel, and this one has a nice HD master).

[Big Ben]

My only guess is steaming maybe? Because I imagine the average consumer is buying Paramount+ to watch......Days of Heaven. \:D/

[ShempTCat]

Medium Cool and Harold and Maude are also showing as Currently Unavailable on CC's site.

[therewillbeblus]

I mean whatever, as long as somebody releases Starting Over already..

[Big Ben]

If all those titles are going then it probably really is streaming stuff for Paramount Plus as they've got to pull out all the stops if they want to compete I guess. Although I cannot fathom something like Don't Look Now being more popular than The Godfather.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

If Paramount is pulling these titles to move people over to Paramount+, why would they release their own Blus? Also, why are they just "Currently Unavailable" and not "Out of Print"? It doesn't seem like it could be a coincidence that these are all Paramount titles but I wonder if they're all somehow in between pressings. Alternatively, maybe Criterion expects the licenses to be renewed, but they haven't quite gotten there yet.