Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[Never Cursed]

Yeah, Studiocanal's restoration of The Third Man (the one with the ruined audio, particularly during the climax) isn't even that old

[Walter Kurtz]

Disappointment seconded! I'm going to buy the Studio Canal release. That will ensure that CC announces it next month.

There's one left by rarewaves on ebay at $25.12 including delivery for the SC release. It's slipcased I believe. And Klein signed the front of it so it looks like he made it out of there ok.

To haunt Becker in his dreams.

[dwk]

I'm lost by this point on the back-and-forth between who has what, but I thought it was established with some certainty that Criterion didn't get The Third Man back?

It could still be with Lionsgate, who, I believe, still has first pick of StudioCanal titles.

[therewillbeblus]

Cool, just trying to keep a pulse on this one to gauge the green light on if/when I should sell my still-unwrapped Criterion blu

[Finch]

Disappointed by this month as well, outside of the Melville UHD which Criterion could improve upon by making sure the presentation looks good on both the HDR and Dolby Vision layers. Hoping Cure is in for April and in UHD.

[FrauBlucher]

Criterion seems to be cornering the market for the music doc/concert films genre. What else could we hope for?...Stop Making Sense would've been terrific

[Robert Chipeska]

Is there any discernible reason why Bringing Out the Dead still has no blu-ray release (i.e. Scorsese or Cage disowning it, release/music rights issues)?

Waiting for double-feature w/ Broken Vessels

[Robert Chipeska]

The announcement of Le cercle rouge UHD makes Kino getting stuff like the other Melville titles and Last Year at Marienbad even more disappointing as they have said they have no interest in release them on UHD.

But does Kino have UHD rights to those?

[paulm]

Criterion seems to be cornering the market for the music doc/concert films genre. What else could we hope for?...Stop Making Sense would've been terrific

Sun Ra's Space Is the Place streams with Janus and Criterion logos on the Criterion Channel.

Not based on any sort of evidence whatsoever (and some of these would probably involve working with record labels instead of movie studios which is probably its own can of worms), but some ideas of things that mostly haven't had wide US blu-ray releases that would fit
Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii
Jonathan Demme/Neil Young Trilogy )Heart of Gold, Trunk Show, Journeys)
Wattstax
Prince: Sign O' the Times
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle and/or The Filth and the Fury
1991: The Year Punk Broke

and my dream release (because the DVD was my first Criterion) would be an upgrade on the Beastie Boys set with all of the videos and live footage they can find.

[therewillbeblus]

While we're dreaming in the dream-thread, Ween: Live in Chicago with an accompanying CD of B-sides collectively superior to any released material finally on disc would be lovely

[FrauBlucher]

I have to think that Criterion's dealings with Warner would put Woodstock: 3 days of Peace and Music into play for a UHD

[dwk]

But does Kino have UHD rights to those?

Maybe, but when asked the Kino rep said they weren't going to release any on UHD not that they didn't have the rights.

[jwd5275]

Considering Criterion's relationship with the late D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, I would guess Ziggy Stardust would have a higher than normal likelihood of eventual release, hopefully Sweet Toronto and Depeche Mode: 101 too...

[Boosmahn]

But does Kino have UHD rights to those?

Maybe, but when asked the Kino rep said they weren't going to release any on UHD not that they didn't have the rights.

I wonder, would Kino ever sit on the rights to ensure nobody in the U.S. releases a UHD version? You'd think letting another label have them would save them money, but keeping them could generate more revenue in the long run.

[tolbs1010]

While we're dreaming in the dream-thread, Ween: Live in Chicago with an accompanying CD of B-sides collectively superior to any released material finally on disc would be lovely

Fans of the Boognish turn up in the most unexpected places—like Criterion Forum.

Shinola Vol. 1 had some gems from Ween’s vaults. Still waiting for Volume 2…

[therewillbeblus]

No idea why there aren't 20 volumes out by now. They aren't rolling in dough touring a handful of times a year and without having released an album in almost a decade and a half... it's all material just sitting on YT in strong masters waiting to be put on disc. There has to be some good reason, because it's inexplicable to me, but I'm not holding my breath any longer

[Maltic]

Considering Criterion's relationship with the late D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, I would guess Ziggy Stardust would have a higher than normal likelihood of eventual release, hopefully Sweet Toronto and Depeche Mode: 101 too...

WB put out DM: 101 on BD just a few weeks ago, and from what I've heard, it looks and sounds great, so that one seems unlikely

[Hogfather]

The spaghetti western could be Monte Hellman's China 9, Liberty 37, a film Warner has been sitting on forever.

Titles from Howard Hawks, Paul Schrader, Monte Hellman, and David Gordon Green

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.

I did some more thinking about this, and it's more possible than I considered it to be at first. I think that the possible Hellman title is, as suggested earlier (without much hard evidence), China 9 Liberty 7. The other possibility in my mind is Cockfighter (a.k.a. Born to Kill).

The Schrader title could conceivably be a couple different movies: Affliction, Light Sleeper, Auto Focus, or Hardcore (someone probably knows more about where the rights lie than myself and will discount at least one of these movies), seeing as they don't really have Blu-rays right now. I'm going to go out on a limb though, and say that it could be a movie that Paul Schrader only wrote: The Mosquito Coast. Again, this one was directed by Peter Weir and not Schrader, but it's been on my mind recently because of this podcast. The Saul Zaentz Company owns the rights to that one, and they have a new rights deal with Warner Bros that put it in Criterion's hands. We already know that Criterion is doing an Amadeus 4k, and in the video the guy says that Philip Kaufman wants Criterion to do the Blu-ray for The Unbearable Lightness of Being. It may be a bit of a stretch, but I think it's as good a guess as any.

The only David Gordon Green movie that makes sense to me is All the Real Girls, seeing as that's his follow-up to George Washington.

I still think that the Howard Hawks movie is The Big Sky.

[therewillbeblus]

All the Real Girls would be very welcome as Green's best film and one of the most raw and honest accounts of love's tribulations, as would The Big Sky, which I've grown to love (though the unreleased extended cut is far superior to the version out there)

[justeleblanc]

The user is also claiming that a comprehensive boxset featuring all of the films of a Japanese director (not Kurosawa or Ozu) are coming.

If this is true, my guess is Kinuyo Tanaka, whose 5-6 films as a director have recently been restored.[/quote]
This is probably true, though isn't Criterion/Janus still sitting on at least 17 Nagisa Oshima titles?

[black&huge]

isn't Criterion/Janus still sitting on at least 17 Nagisa Oshima titles?

that reminds me when the hell is Boy coming?

[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

Along with this ^^^^

Blast of Silence is out of stock. Look for these to get upgraded sooner rather than later

[FrauBlucher]

Cinema Revival: A Festival of Film Restoration at the Wexner Center for the Arts
Screenings of Written On the Wind, Miracle at Milan and Mississippi Marsala. Lee Kline will be representing Criterion

[FrauBlucher]

Mira Nair's Twitter feed

Promise you, my dears, Janus and Criterion are releasing Mississippi Masala this coming spring 2022. Here’s to a happy and hit new year

[Hogfather]

The Films of Márta Mészáros is now up on Criterion's website.

Blu-ray.com has a page for Miracle in Milan with new cover art.