Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[therewillbeblus]

Ridley Scott joins the collection.

woo

[Roscoe]

Re-joins -- BLADE RUNNER was a Criterion laserdisc.

[Drucker]

Wow awesome month.

[FrauBlucher]

Ridley Scott joins the collection.

woo

I wasn't feeling euphoric about this. Just that I'm surprised it took him this long. Although, like Roscoe pointed out he was way back in the laserdisc days

[TraverseTown]

Well, it's clear that the production team behind the disc supplements got cut severely during the layoffs last year. So many 4K upgrades mean no new supplements for those, and the new spines for the past few months seem to be leaning a bit more heavily on archival material, most only have 1 newly produced feature, and Romeo & Juliet got nothing.

[Computer Raheem]

Easy improvement over last month, and easily the most interesting slate of films so far this year

Mostly just excited for Suzuki in 4K, though \:D/

(edit) Also, with Thelma & Louise being announced. does that mean DiscFather may actually have some real scoops? Not sure how I feel about this

[black&huge]

this is the first month in over 2 years? where there isn't a release by a black filmmaker or am I wrong?

[ChunkyLover]

(edit) Also, with Thelma & Louise being announced. does that mean DiscFather may actually have some real scoops? Not sure how I feel about this

Meh, I wouldn't put too much faith in his "scoops". You have to think, Criterion have probably been sitting on this one for years considering that labels like Kino or Shout (especially the latter when they were very "re-release"-friendly for MGM titles back in 2018-2019ish) didn't put it out themselves.

[yoloswegmaster]

(edit) Also, with Thelma & Louise being announced. does that mean DiscFather may actually have some real scoops? Not sure how I feel about this

It wasn't DickFather who announced it, it was The Digital Bits/Bill Hunt who reported it. Bill Hunt has some real inside scoops but there are instances where he's wrong (e.g. KL having Manhunter despite them denying it on 2 separate occasions).

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

this is the first month in over 2 years? where there isn't a release by a black filmmaker or am I wrong?

There isn't one next month. Before that you have to go back to May 2022.

[ianthemovie]

this is the first month in over 2 years? where there isn't a release by a black filmmaker or am I wrong?

The releases announced for March of this year are all by white or Asian filmmakers (David Lynch, Joan Micklin Silver, Michael Curtiz, John Woo).

But to your point yes, Criterion's recent run of consistently putting out Black film seems to have temporarily slowed.

[Finch]

I need to revisit Branded to Kill; both times I watched it it was the one Suzuki that didn't click with me. I'd have preferred Tokyo Drifter but perhaps that's coming in the future. I already have Petite Mamman on the MUBI UK BD and Criterion's looks barely more substantial on the extras front so that's a pass on the one title that would have interested me this month. But it is a better lineup than April's which has always been a bit of a, uhm, low-key month.

[beamish14]

While I'm excited that Suzuki is getting so much love, I wish they'd get his other four spines on Blu. (The old Home Vision titles would be nice, too.)

What I really want is A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness and Capone Cries a Lot (both of which have HD restorations) on Criterion

[DimitriL]

Re-joins -- BLADE RUNNER was a Criterion laserdisc.

Indeed it was. And it was arguably the most important disc in Criterion’s history in terms of wildly increasing their commercial appeal.

[beamish14]

I went to a rare screening of Catherine Breillat’s 36 Fillette this evening. During his introduction, the programmer noted that the film currently doesn’t have a North American distributor (the screening turned into a benefit for NARAL Pro-Choice America, as they couldn’t make any money from it), and that the French rights holder is planning to do a 4K scan. It will be interesting to see it becomes a Janus/Criterion pickup.

[ryannichols7]

we're back - my usual 24+ hour delay on the Speculation Roundup continues. luckily Criterion didn't make us wait, and delivered their most widely praised (at least that I've seen) lineup of the year so far on time!

Targets - longstanding relationship with Bogdanovich (RIP) and Paramount; otherwise a surprise aside from BFI making us aware a new master was coming (more below)

Thelma and Louise - complete and total surprise; re-entry of Ridley Scott for the first time since laserdisc era, another MGM 4K UHD EDIT: Ridley Scott phantom page was added in 2017

Petite Maman - confirmed by Neon previously, as well as Carson Ellis - Criterion has also released Sciamma before

Wings of Desire - UK UHD already released, approved by Wenders; seemed like an inevitability

Branded to Kill - first Japanese UHD from Criterion! a total (and welcome) surprise, was first Asian film to win Venice Classics Award for Best Restored Film in 2022

----------------

DVD to Bluray/UHD upgrades this month: none (again)

Bluray to UHD upgrades:

0038 Branded to Kill
0490 Wings of Desire

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we're back up to five titles and gauging the reactions across the various forums and social media channels, I see a general praising reaction - which is refreshing. but I am seeing more and more people echo our concerns about less extras across these discs, or exclusively using archival stuff and not comissioning anything new. there were also concerns about the two UHD upgrades being SDR masters, but since Wings of Desire was approved by Wim Wenders and has an older master on its current Bluray, the upgrade is being welcomed by most. Branded to Kill is one I don't think any of us expected to be the first Japanese UHD title from Criterion, but it's most welcomed - while SDR, the new restoration should certainly be an upgrade. it is rather amusing how that film got Suzuki in a lot of hot water with Nikkatsu, but modern day Nikkatsu celebrated that Venice Classics award and now we're seeing this UHD on disc, before a Japanese release even! stunning.

on the "director approved" front this month (4/5 of these releases are) with new titles, we knew Petite Maman was coming of course, no further surprises. Targets was an often wishlisted title in the old Paramount threads and elsewhere here. as much as Criterion loved to work with Bogdanovich, it is rather peculiar they have only released one of his films on disc to date. hopefully this is when they start remedying that of course. I'm intrigued that Criterion announced theirs before BFI did, after BFI suspended theirs a few months ago. it was clear someone would release Targets here once the new master was ready, between Criterion, Kino, or even Arrow who have taken to releasing surprising Paramount titles in the US. Criterion of course made the most sense given their relationship with the director. Thelma and Louise I'll admit was a genuine surprise on my part, it felt very much up Kino or Shout's alley (even Arrow) but the angle the film has of course makes sense for Criterion. one has to wonder if there's any other Ridley Scott things in the pipeline. I'm sure it will sell tons of copies and the HDR grade will look great, good pick from the MGM catalog. my birthday month delivers the year's best lineup so far, two years in a row!

-----------------

our speculation roundup winners this month are yoloswegmaster and Buttery Jeb for both guessing the same Petite Maman / Thelma and Louise combo.

naturally we will point out again that Bressonaire knows everything and "guessed" Targets

a solid month! we'll see you back for June!

[FrauBlucher]

Was Thelma & Louise a complete and total surprise? There seemed to be a tease or a leak a number of years ago if I remember correctly

[yoloswegmaster]

Was Thelma & Louise a complete and total surprise? There seemed to be a tease or a leak a number of years ago if I remember correctly

The only thing I can think of is Ridley Scott getting a phantom page on the old site back in 2017. His page appeared at the same time alongside other directors who had films from MGM that ended up being released by Criterion. Here is the full list of directors:

Donna Deitch
Michael Radford
Ron Shelton
Joan Micklin Silver
Euzhan Palcy
John Sturges
Norman Jewison
Ridley Scott
Bryan Singer
Jerome Robbins

We still haven't received releases from the last 2 directors but I'm pretty sure that Criterion let The Usual Suspects go for obvious reasons, and I wouldn't be surprised to see West Side Story getting a release anytime soon.

[Buttery Jeb]

Was Thelma & Louise a complete and total surprise? There seemed to be a tease or a leak a number of years ago if I remember correctly

The Digital Bits mentioned it might be coming out on 4K from Criterion last month, along with The Fisher King (just before it got officially announced, but after Criterion had dropped a teaser image for their April releases).

[yoloswegmaster]

Haven't seen this posted but last year, KL Insider was asked if they had the rights to Samuel Fuller's Park Row and they responded with this:

It's with a label that sits on stuff for years, they also have Kansas City Confidential.

Hard to think of any other company that sits on rights for years...

[colinr0380]

Targets was an often wishlisted title in the old Paramount threads and elsewhere here. as much as Criterion loved to work with Bogdanovich, it is rather peculiar they have only released one of his films on disc to date. hopefully this is when they start remedying that of course.

Don't forget that The Last Picture Show was in the BBS box. I'm hoping that if Criterion ever upgrade that one they will consider adding Texasville with it, if only for completeness sake.

[Roscoe]

Targets was an often wishlisted title in the old Paramount threads and elsewhere here. as much as Criterion loved to work with Bogdanovich, it is rather peculiar they have only released one of his films on disc to date. hopefully this is when they start remedying that of course.

Don't forget that The Last Picture Show was in the BBS box. I'm hoping that if Criterion ever upgrade that one they will consider adding Texasville with it, if only for completeness sake.

LAST PICTURE SHOW was also a Criterion laserdisc, available in the full CAV special edition and regular CLV.

[ryannichols7]

Was Thelma & Louise a complete and total surprise? There seemed to be a tease or a leak a number of years ago if I remember correctly

there is a site that I don't want to give credit (they have a lot of non-credible things in their past) that said it was coming. take that for what you will - Amadeus is of course still "coming" and then we have the Pat Garrett confirmation, but I'm far more inclined to believe Alex Cox (who's worked with Criterion!) than that website.

I will edit the post to include Ridley Scott being added on the phantom pages, totally missed that when I scoured our archives. seems pretty likely West Side Story will receive a UHD release at some point - this has been rumored a lot over the years, and would make sense why it's taken so long

Targets was an often wishlisted title in the old Paramount threads and elsewhere here. as much as Criterion loved to work with Bogdanovich, it is rather peculiar they have only released one of his films on disc to date. hopefully this is when they start remedying that of course.

Don't forget that The Last Picture Show was in the BBS box. I'm hoping that if Criterion ever upgrade that one they will consider adding Texasville with it, if only for completeness sake.

LAST PICTURE SHOW was also a Criterion laserdisc, available in the full CAV special edition and regular CLV.

yes, when I said the "one" I was referring to Last Picture Show, one of my favorite movies in the collection. they should definitely add Texasville in a hypothetical UHD upgrade scenario. we haven't seen Criterion release a UHD of anything that was included in a Columbia Classics boxset yet, though I'm keen to see if any happen at some point. so far it seems Sony is keeping their "big sellers" to themselves, as the three Sony UHDs Criterion have released are two Terry Gilliam titles and Devil in a Blue Dress, all things I don't imagine Sony doing themselves

[Matt]

Hard to think of any other company that sits on rights for years...

Maybe now that they’re back to releasing almost barebones editions again they’ll work through their backlog more quickly.

Sure. lol, lmao, lmfao, etc.

[FrauBlucher]

you forgot haha and