Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[What A Disgrace]

There's been rumors of a Roberto Galvadon Eclipse box for a while, right? This possible leak hints explicitly at La Otra and implicitly at Macario; its such an odd hint to drop because its a long rumored release but not one that's been talked about at all.

[RSTooley]

Here is a list of titles that have been "revealed" by this "insider":

Spoiler

Pulp Fiction 4K
After Hours
Brazilian Director boxset
Barton Fink
Scorsese 4K title
The Insider
Happiness
3 Netflix titles (one of which is Mank)
Two French boxsets (Antoine Doinel series and Three Colors Trilogy
Japanese animated film from the 80s 9probably Angel's Egg)
Japanese title upgrade from the 60s (director only has one title in the collection)
Comprehensive boxset for Japanese director that isn't Ozu or Kurosawa
Lars Von Trier title
Contempt
Le Cercle Rouge
1 title that is from this page
Homicide upgrade
As Good As It Gets
By The Law (this release will also feature a second film from the same director)
Spaghetti Western title that features a score from Ennio Morricone
South Korean title; hinted to be from Lee Chang Dong
Titles from Howard Hawks, Paul Schrader, Monte Hellman, and David Gordon Green
Upgrades for La commare secca and Le deuxième souffle
two more French titles: one from a director who doesn't have a film in the collection and is very controversial, the other is an upgrade from an eclipse set getting a standalone.
Lubitsch title
Couple of Mexican "horror" films; likely to be 'The Other' and 'Macario'
more Hong Kong titles
two more French titles: one from a director who doesn't have a film in the collection and is very controversial, the other is an upgrade from an eclipse set getting a standalone

Linguini also stated that The Misfits and The Seventh Continent are coming down the pipeline in 2022. However, the person comes off so immature and desperate for attention that I can't help but think they are just trolling.

[domino harvey]

I find it hard to believe that the Criterion of today would ever touch Happiness, though it would be a worthy addition

[Hogfather]

I've been keeping a list of Criterion rumors/hints for some time now, so I'll pop in here if that's alright. Get ready for a bit of a long read.

I'm not fully convinced. Some of these titles seem like good fantasy. Some seem inevitable (After Hours), but I can't see the current Criterion willingly releasing something like Pulp Fiction with a huge "Executive Producer Harvey Weinstein" credit in the opening. It's nice to dream though! The spaghetti western could be Monte Hellman's China 9, Liberty 37, a film Warner has been sitting on forever. Or even Once Upon a Time in the West, a major film that could use an upgrade, though have Criterion released any Paramount titles since The Furies? I'd love a Homicide upgrade, but again, felt like Criterion is less interested in Mamet since his conversion to conservatism.

Also Warner Bros. seems to have so much quality control over their library. They've only licensed two titles to excellent labels like Arrow. I just can't see them handing their titles off to a company like Kino who does quick releases with useless commentaries.

The spaghetti western might be A Pistol For Ringo/The Return of Ringo, seeing as that's still on the Criterion Channel under the Morricone Scores collection. I've heard nothing about those other China 9, Liberty 37 or Once Upon a Time in the West joining the Collection, though I'd love both. I think the Homicide upgrade is totally possible given the fact that Mamet and Criterion upgraded House of Games pretty recently (2019). As for Weinstein and Pulp Fiction, whether or not that stops Criterion from putting the film out will probably be subsumed by it being too big a title and Tarantino too big a director for the big studios to not just release it themselves.

A Scorsese 4K that is not After Hours would probably be The Irishman, as it would just mean adding an already-mastered 4K version to the existing release. If not that, then The Age of Innocence.

Cape Fear, which supposedly has a 4K master and Kino, Shout and Arrow have all said they don't have it.

I'd love for this to happen, and the back-to-back releases of The Irishman, Rolling Thunder Revue, and the Scorsese Shorts set makes this more likely. Still, the first two of those are Netflix films, and the Scorsese Shorts are all owned by the man himself. Cape Fear is probably still in the hands of Universal, Amblin, or one of the other companies that was involved with it back in the day.

Here is a list of titles that have been "revealed" by this "insider":

Pulp Fiction 4K
After Hours
Brazilian Director boxset
Barton Fink
Scorsese 4K title
The Insider
Happiness
3 Netflix titles (one of which is Mank)
Two French boxsets (Antoine Doinel series and Three Colors Trilogy
Japanese animated film from the 80s 9probably Angel's Egg)
Japanese title upgrade from the 60s (director only has one title in the collection)
Comprehensive boxset for Japanese director that isn't Ozu or Kurosawa
Lars Von Trier title
Contempt
Le Cercle Rouge
1 title that is from this page
Homicide upgrade
As Good As It Gets
By The Law (this release will also feature a second film from the same director)
Spaghetti Western title that features a score from Ennio Morricone
South Korean title; hinted to be from Lee Chang Dong
Titles from Howard Hawks, Paul Schrader, Monte Hellman, and David Gordon Green
Upgrades for La commare secca and Le deuxième souffle
two more French titles: one from a director who doesn't have a film in the collection and is very controversial, the other is an upgrade from an eclipse set getting a standalone.
Lubitsch title
Couple of Mexican "horror" films; likely to be 'The Other' and 'Macario'
more Hong Kong titles
two more French titles: one from a director who doesn't have a film in the collection and is very controversial, the other is an upgrade from an eclipse set getting a standalone

Pulp Fiction 4K - No way this one is happening. Too much money in a direct studio release for it to be outsourced for Criterion.

After Hours - This one's been rumored for a while, so I guess it's possible.

Brazilian Director boxset - I don't know anything about this or who it would be.

Barton Fink - Given that we now (seem to) have a pattern of early Coen Bros. coming through Criterion, this one could come someday. Still, I don't think anyone should hold their breath. We might have to wait for a very, very long time.

Scorsese 4K title - Criterion is being economic about their 4k releases, so a big-name director like Scorsese getting one isn't unlikely. My money is on either The Irishman or The Last Temptation of Christ, seeing as those are the two most well-known in the collection. IF we get Cape Fear, then you can put that one in the running too, but I'd like to see a little more evidence first.

The Insider - Maybe. It does have a U.S. Blu-ray, but I can see it happening on vibes alone.

Happiness - I've seen no indication that this will happen, but they did the sequel already, so why not I guess.

3 Netflix titles (one of which is Mank) - I don't know why people keep saying that Mank will join the collection, but maybe my personal antipathy towards the film is clouding my judgement. Other than that, We've been told that we'll be getting releases of The Other Side of the Wind (per TOSotW actor, Welles historian, and previous Criterion collaborator Joseph McBride as far back as 2019 and again in 2020), as well as American Factory and Atlantique. These latter two were slated to be part of the original Netflix/Criterion releases waayyyyy back in 2020, but have since been outpaced by The Irishman, Rolling Thunder Revue, and Beasts of No Nation. The Other Side of the Wind has probably been held up by its extras, about two hours of which have been reorganized into the film-cum-interview Hopper/Welles and at least a couple hours more of which will be reorganized into similar films, one with Curtis Harrington and the other with Henry Jaglom and Paul Mazursky. All three of these were originally confirmed for 2020, so I guess we'll just have to wait. I'd count on us getting Mati Diop first, given Criterion's (very good) push for diversity and her collection of shorts on The Criterion Channel.

Two French boxsets (Antoine Doinel series and Three Colors Trilogy) - The Antoine Doinel series is probably coming, seeing as Carlotta films recently restored it in 4k. I don't know about the Three Colors Trilogy. It's great, but don't forget the economics here - how much money is in a rerelease or a 4k of it?

Japanese animated film from the 80s (probably Angel's Egg) - I'd love for this to happen, seeing as Angel's Egg is only Blu-ray is a Japanese one. However, I've seen no indication of this.

Japanese title upgrade from the 60s (director only has one title in the collection) - I checked the Collection, and this will most likely be Jigoku or, and this is a little less likely, an Eclipse upgrade for something in Nikkatsu Noir. I don't think that it will be A Woman Ascends the Stairs since there's that Silent Naruse Eclipse Set.

Comprehensive boxset for Japanese director that isn't Ozu or Kurosawa - Super special thanks to whoever just posted about how Janus is partnering with Lincoln Center for a Kinouya Tanaka retrospective. It could also be Kazuo Hara, who has five films listed on Janus Films' website, or Juzo Itami, whose complete filmography as a director has literally just been sitting on the Criterion Channel since it launched.

Lars Von Trier title - I've seen absolutely nothing about this. Hopefully it'll be a a long-awaited upgrade of either The Element of Crime or Europa.

Contempt - As someone else just pointed out, Criterion Channel just chose Contempt as the subject of Observations on Film Art No.45. Seeing as Pierrot Le Fou was recently rescued and returned to the Collection, and with a second Blu-ray release at that, it seems very possible that we'll get Contempt back too.

Le Cercle Rouge - Idk about this one, but I seem to remember some talk about Criterion getting it back. Approach with caution.

1 title that is from this page - I've seen no evidence of any of these becoming Criterion titles anytime soon.

Homicide upgrade - Not impossible. Mamet worked with Criterion not too long ago on a House of Games upgrade.

As Good As It Gets - Easily the biggest reach on this list. Almost certainly bs. I've seen no evidence of it and it doesn't seem remotely like even Criterion's previous James L. Brooks film, Broadcast News.

By The Law (this release will also feature a second film from the same director) - I've seen no evidence of this, but I guess anything's possible with these older foreign titles.

Spaghetti Western title that features a score from Ennio Morricone - I've seen no evidence of this, but A Pistol for Ringo and The Return of Ringo are both on the Criterion Channel under the Scores by Ennio Morricone label. Maybe we'll get them in a two-film set like the Lady Snowblood films or The Emigrants and The New Land.

South Korean title; hinted to be from Lee Chang Dong - I have neither seen any evidence of this nor have I any idea what that film would be, but I am not even remotely familiar with Lee.

Titles from Howard Hawks, Paul Schrader, Monte Hellman, and David Gordon Green - I don't know about Schrader, Hellman, or Green, but I know that Howard Hawks' The Big Sky was restored by The Film Foundation and keeps showing up on The Criterion Channel.

Upgrades for La commare secca and Le deuxième souffle - La commare secca is definitely coming. It was restored and shown at the 2019 Venice Film Festival (it is translated as The Grim Reaper in this article). Idk about La deuxième souffle, but Janus still has the rights to it.

two more French titles: one from a director who doesn't have a film in the collection and is very controversial, the other is an upgrade from an eclipse set getting a standalone. - There are a lot of controversial French directors, so Idk about this first one. As for the Eclipse Set upgrade, There are 10 Eclipse Sets from French directors which together contain 40 films. Of these forty, the two most likely to get standalone releases are Wooden Crosses (which, like Contempt, has an episode of Observations on Film Art studying it) and Les rendez-vous d’Anna (which I heard someone mention would get upgraded years ago).

Lubitsch title - Idk what this would be. Check the Criterion Channel to see which Lubitsch titles aren't removed in the next couple weeks.

Couple of Mexican "horror" films; likely to be The Other and Macario - I heard it said that these would be from the 40's and 60's, but I'd guess that a more likely candidate would be 1934's The Phantom of the Monastery, which is on The Criterion Channel as part of the Film Foundation collection.

more Hong Kong titles - There are several candidates for this, but I can't remember what they are.

Neon announced Criterion will release The Worst Person in the World in 2022.

This is true.

Linguini also stated that The Misfits and The Seventh Continent are coming down the pipeline in 2022. However, the person comes off so immature and desperate for attention that I can't help but think they are just trolling.

The The Seventh Continent rumors actually go back quite a while. This post says that Criterion got the Michael Haneke films that Kino Lorber lost. It says that Criterion got The Piano Teacher, Funny Games, The Castle, Benny's Video, The Seventh Continent, and 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance. All six of these movies are on The Criterion Channel, and the first two have Criterion releases, so this could just mean that Criterion is finally getting around to it. Idk about The Misfits, but I'd love some more John Huston.

[Never Cursed]

So glad to hear that Criterion is finally recognizing Sam Levinson's genius through its lavish special edition of Malcolm & Marie

[What A Disgrace]

Phantom of the Monastery is being released among Indicator's March slate, in both the UK and USA, so that's definitely not among the Mexican horror films.

[dwk]

And Arrow has already released the two Ringo movies.

[ChunkyLover]

"Angel's Egg" is probably unlikely as that has unresolved legal issues in the US.

[beamish14]

Monte Hellman's China 9 Liberty 37 has needed a restoration from WB for years. It wouldn't surprise me if Criterion wanted it, but I don't know if the elements are there.

I wish Criterion could get their hands on Neo-Tokyo, which has never had an HD release in North America, and its DVD went OOP a long time ago.

[Boosmahn]

South Korean title; hinted to be from Lee Chang Dong - I have neither seen any evidence of this nor have I any idea what that film would be, but I am not even remotely familiar with Lee.

It would have to be Green Fish, Peppermint Candy, or Oasis. I'd bet on (or am just wishing for) the middle option. Green Fish doesn't have a Blu-ray release to my knowledge, though, so that one is more pressing. You'd think someone would bring more of his films to Blu-ray in the U.S. after his success with Burning, but… :-k

This "insider" is likely full of it, but some of these are so general, they're bound to get a few right. I can see Criterion releasing another of his films.

[yoloswegmaster]

The "insider" was confirmed to be bullshitting after saying that there were no upcoming NEON titles before 'The Worst Person in the World' got announced. In fact, I'm 100% certain that this was the alt account of another user who was recently banned after also pretending to be an insider.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

It’s worth mentioning it seems they got banned on the Blu-ray forum.

It was clear bullshit when they mentioned no Neon releases. Titane still seems like an inevitable no brainer to be released one day. Directed by a female director, a Palme d’or winner, and on the pulse of contemporary tastes by examining gender and the body.

[domino harvey]

Already coming out on Blu from Neon’s own label

[Grand Wazoo]

I find it hard to believe that the Criterion of today would ever touch Happiness, though it would be a worthy addition

This is a dream release for me, but like Domino I don't think Criterion will want to wade into Solondz's work again which has only become more provocative as the focuses in culture shift. Let's assume they did announce it, I feel like someone with an audience on twitter will bring wider attention to that scene from Storytelling, say it causes harm, and that'll be that for the release and probably funding for the foreseeable future for Solondz. I'm still hoping for someone to rescue both of these + Palindromes. Who would even be willing at this point, Kino or Shout! Factory?

[therewillbeblus]

I mean, I guess it was slightly before all the shows omitted even satirical uses of blackface in the wake of George Floyd, but Criterion released Bamboozled and I’m sure there was some Twitter user blasting them from doing so at some point, ignorant to context. I doubt they would have reconsidered if the release was planned for that Fall, and I’m not convinced a lesser-known title like Happiness will garner that much media attention to make them shake in their boots. It’s not gonna make a splash like Birth of a Nation would

[swo17]

Happiness was quite scandalous when it came out. I don't see any way in which it has "aged poorly" for our current cultural moment. There are no scenes that you would watch today and say "oof, what were we thinking passing this off as entertainment in the '90s?" It was then and plays still as a provocation with important things to say about what we value in life. Anyone who doesn't release it is a coward

[Grand Wazoo]

Happiness was quite scandalous when it came out. I don't see any way in which it has "aged poorly" for our current cultural moment. There are no scenes that you would watch today and say "oof, what were we thinking passing this off as entertainment in the '90s?" It was then and plays still as a provocation with important things to say about what we value in life. Anyone who doesn't release it is a coward

I agree with all of this and will add that Solondz's entire body of work is one that I treasure. I should clarify, I don't believe anything in his films, Happiness especially, has aged poorly in the way you mention, I just mean his provocations can seem more audacious today to certain viewers. I once heard someone sincerely discuss hoping for his inevitable 'cancellation' due to his "treatment of black women in Palindromes", which...I wouldn't know where to begin there (and to be fair, this was an isolated incident), but I'm guessing that film would actually need to be more widely seen for any sort of misplaced antagonism to catch fire.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Already coming out on Blu from Neon’s own label

I know and that didn’t stop Parasite, Boyhood, 45 Years, or Clouds of Sils Maria to come out. There’s money to be made!

[mfunk9786]

Neon announced Criterion will release The Worst Person in the World in 2022.

Will be one of the finest "current era" films to ever grace the collection

[FrauBlucher]

Suzuki's Youth of the Beast DVD is listed as out of stock on their site and only available from third party sellers on Amazon. Perhaps we'll be seeing an upgrade

[Hogfather]

Ten films by Márta Mészáros are now listed on Janus Films' Website: Adoption, The Girl, Binding Sentiments, Don't Cry, Pretty Girls!, The Two of Them, The Heiresses (also known as The Inheritance), Diary for My Mother and Father, Nine Months, Diary for My Children, and Diary for My Lovers. We already knew about Adoption, and know we know that Janus/Criterion has more than a third of her total filmography to boot. I remember seeing someone earlier in this thread mention that we were probably getting her Diary Trilogy based on the information provided here, and now we know that we'll be getting ten films total.

[Hogfather]

Also, I don't know if anyone else said this earlier, but Inland Empire is also listed on Janus' website.

[CSM126]

Yes, it came up a few months ago

[yoloswegmaster]

Suzuki's Youth of the Beast DVD is listed as out of stock on their site and only available from third party sellers on Amazon. Perhaps we'll be seeing an upgrade

I would love to see a Blu upgrade, especially since the Eureka blu has gone OOP (as well as the Criterion cover being one of my favourites in the collection). Has anyone heard any news regarding a restoration for this?

[Hogfather]

EDIT: Here are the claims that this guy is making:

...

• two more French titles: one from a director who doesn't have a film in the collection and is very controversial, the other is an upgrade from an eclipse set getting a standalone.

...

The Eclipse upgrade is probably Le ciel est à vous from the Jean Grémillon During the Occupation set, which was restored and shown at Cannes 2019. Janus still has the rights to it, too.