Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[beamish14]

A High Tide restoration would be a revelation, it needs to happen from them or somebody.

I’d love more Gillian Armstrong. Last Days of Chez-Nous did get a restoration, and it looks very nice on Kanopy

[Ribs]

The English Patient seemingly formally confirmed by Kleber Mendonca Filho of all people! By tweeting images sent to him by Criterion’s art people of their desks with the Secret Agent.

[Mr.DarjeelingLimited]

Quit telling your stupid story about the stupid desert and just die already!

[Blutarsky]

Sack Lunch when?

[hearthesilence]

I appreciate that episode much more now as a reflection of one segment of New York's moviegoing community, but The English Patient is also a strange pick for a movie that's supposedly universally beloved - there were more acclaimed films in 1996, even strictly going by widely-released films reviewed by metropolitan newspapers, and while the response to The English Patient was generally favorable, a lot of reviews were mildly positive and more than a few were pretty dismissive. I thought it was okay, but I have no desire to see it again.

EDIT: Swap it out for that same year's Breaking the Waves and you'd have a much funnier TV show ("Well, to tell you the truth Elaine, I don't know if I can be with someone who doesn't like Breaking the Waves" and "I thought I knew what love was") albeit in a much darker and perhaps stomach-turning way.

[James Stock]

I hope they do The Talented Mr. Ripley as well.

[Matt]

I hated The English Patient as much as Elaine did and am not a fan of Ripley either except as a document of Jude Law at the peak of his beauty.

[Lowry_Sam]

They’ve put out films with actors in blackface and included contextualizing, scholarly interviews. I’m sure they could do the same here. But again, it’s Sony, so unlikely to happen in any case.

So a Busby Berkeley choreography box that includes Wonder Bar is a possibility?

The Collection needs more Judy Davis, though.

I do love her, but in running through her filmography on IMDB, I'm not seeing a whole lot of possibilities:

Impromptu
Allen/Davis box: (Alice), Husbands & Wives, Deconstructing Harry, Celebrity (yuck), (To Rome With Love (double yuck))-not likely
I haven't seen it but A Woman Called Golda is highly rated on IMDB, but also not likely/bad timing.

Naked Lunch & My Beautiful Career upgrades would be nice though.

[Matt]

The Collection needs more Judy Davis, though.

I do love her, but in running through her filmography on IMDB, I'm not seeing a whole lot of possibilities

Barton Fink, of course. But so many good options are, through no fault of her own, now too problematic to release: the Allen films, The Ref, A Passage to India. She's in the forthcoming Marie Antoinette, though. And they would never do a mainstream TV miniseries, but Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows is fantastic. Much better than that Renee Zellweger nonsense movie.

[Lowry_Sam]

Barton Fink, of course.

For some reason, I thought this was in the collection (already), surely any day now.

[MovieBuff647]

Barton Fink, of course.

For some reason, I thought this was in the collection (already), surely any day now.

Disney, sadly.

That said, Universal do have it in the UK and several European countries, and so I was hoping that we could see a 4K from Arrow and/or Turbine, but Uni seem to now be kinda sorta pivoting away from licensing as well.

[Hogfather]

The English Patient seemingly formally confirmed by Kleber Mendonca Filho of all people! By tweeting images sent to him by Criterion’s art people of their desks with the Secret Agent.

This immediately reminded me of this clip from just over five years ago of George Feltenstein where he said that The Saul Zaentz Company's film rights had reverted to them and that some of them might be released through Criterion, particularly The Unbearable Lightness of Being. And there were those leaks(?) a couple years ago that Criterion was going to release Amadeus in 4K before Warner Bros. put out a theatrical cut-only release. I guess an Unbearable Likeness upgrade seems likelier now given this photo and the new Right Stuff 4K.

[beamish14]

The English Patient seemingly formally confirmed by Kleber Mendonca Filho of all people! By tweeting images sent to him by Criterion’s art people of their desks with the Secret Agent.

This immediately reminded me of this clip from just over five years ago of George Feltenstein where he said that The Saul Zaentz Company's film rights had reverted to them and that some of them might be released through Criterion, particularly The Unbearable Lightness of Being. And there were those leaks(?) a couple years ago that Criterion was going to release Amadeus in 4K before Warner Bros. put out a theatrical cut-only release. I guess an Unbearable Likeness upgrade seems likelier now given this photo and the new Right Stuff 4K.

I really hope that At Play in the Fields of the Lord materializes as well. It has never made the leap from laserdisc. Tremendous film.

[RPG]

Quit telling your stupid story about the stupid desert and just die already!

Honestly dude, I completely agree.

[Mr.DarjeelingLimited]

The English Patient seemingly formally confirmed by Kleber Mendonca Filho of all people! By tweeting images sent to him by Criterion’s art people of their desks with the Secret Agent.

This immediately reminded me of this clip from just over five years ago of George Feltenstein where he said that The Saul Zaentz Company's film rights had reverted to them and that some of them might be released through Criterion, particularly The Unbearable Lightness of Being. And there were those leaks(?) a couple years ago that Criterion was going to release Amadeus in 4K before Warner Bros. put out a theatrical cut-only release. I guess an Unbearable Likeness upgrade seems likelier now given this photo and the new Right Stuff 4K.

I really hope that At Play in the Fields of the Lord materializes as well. It has never made the leap from laserdisc. Tremendous film.

Yes, I would love this and The Mosquito Coast to come as well. I could do without Goya’s Ghosts though.

[MovieBuff647]

The English Patient seemingly formally confirmed by Kleber Mendonca Filho of all people! By tweeting images sent to him by Criterion’s art people of their desks with the Secret Agent.

This immediately reminded me of this clip from just over five years ago of George Feltenstein where he said that The Saul Zaentz Company's film rights had reverted to them and that some of them might be released through Criterion, particularly The Unbearable Lightness of Being. And there were those leaks(?) a couple years ago that Criterion was going to release Amadeus in 4K before Warner Bros. put out a theatrical cut-only release. I guess an Unbearable Likeness upgrade seems likelier now given this photo and the new Right Stuff 4K.

I think it's possible Criterion did have AMADEUS but the license was pulled. There were leaks that Shout had LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS too but that's obviously not happening now.

[Hamslam]

I hope they do The Talented Mr. Ripley as well.

I’d love it if they did all the Ripley films, altho Under Ground is more suited for Arrow or something. There must be something funky with the rights on that, cuz it’s totally unavailable.

[MovieBuff647]

December Predictions:

DEMONLOVER* BD
FOUR NIGHTS OF A DREAMER 4K/BD
RIKI-OH: THE STORY OF RICKY 4K/BD
THE WILD BUNCH 4K/BD

PARASITE 4K upgrade
UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD 4K upgrade

*In light of NexSpec's astounding 180 this year and the Arrow BD being one of their rare encodes that could be improved on, I decided to sell off my Arrow BD while I can, so I'm gonna be real pissed off if Criterion don't end up releasing it.

[James Stock]

December Predictions:

DEMONLOVER* BD
FOUR NIGHTS OF A DREAMER 4K/BD
RIKI-OH: THE STORY OF RICKY 4K/BD
THE WILD BUNCH 4K/BD

PARASITE 4K upgrade
UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD 4K upgrade

*In light of NexSpec's astounding 180 this year and the Arrow BD being one of their rare encodes that could be improved on, I decided to sell off my Arrow BD while I can, so I'm gonna be real pissed off if Criterion don't end up releasing it.

Just as a heads-up, there's a Criterion prediction thread that's opened a week or so before announcements and predictions aren't usually posted in this thread.

[FrauBlucher]

Oh, you’re gonna get it

[Mr.DarjeelingLimited]

The Channel streams of Uncle Howard, Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars, and Distant Journey start with Criterion and Janus logos.

[MovieBuff647]

December Predictions:

DEMONLOVER* BD
FOUR NIGHTS OF A DREAMER 4K/BD
RIKI-OH: THE STORY OF RICKY 4K/BD
THE WILD BUNCH 4K/BD

PARASITE 4K upgrade
UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD 4K upgrade

*In light of NexSpec's astounding 180 this year and the Arrow BD being one of their rare encodes that could be improved on, I decided to sell off my Arrow BD while I can, so I'm gonna be real pissed off if Criterion don't end up releasing it.

Just as a heads-up, there's a Criterion prediction thread that's opened a week or so before announcements and predictions aren't usually posted in this thread.

Thanks!

[MovieBuff647]

Warner Archive have confirmed they're releasing THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING 4K in the US in light of the news of a Sony UK steelbook so yes, I'm now fairly certain DOCTOR ZHIVAGO 4K will be an eventual WAC title.

[crimlaw]

Criterion definitely needs more Huston. Hoping there’s an outside chance they have and intend to release Treasure of the Sierra Madre in 4K.

Other possible but not probable 4K releases are:

The African Queen (Paramount in U.S. and Studio Canal overseas);
Beat the Devil (Sony);
The Misfits (MGM/UA in U.S);
Fat City (Sony).