Criterion Random Speculation Vol.3

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Cronenfly · #1026 Post by **Cronenfly** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 7:34 pm

I was in a store on Friday that broke the release date for Breathless, and I saw on the back of the case that one of the licensees is Genius Products. Their "Miriam Collection" announcement has thus far added up to diddly (and you'd think Breathless would be a title they'd want to release themselves if they were going to release anything under a prestige DVD banner that would include foreign films) in terms of releases, so perhaps Madadayo, the Almodovars, other Wellspring titles, etc, will be Criterions.

eez28 · #1027 Post by **eez28** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 12:31 am

To the best of my knowledge, at this time we don't have any Antonioni films on our immediately upcoming schedule.

I hope this helps, and thanks for your interest in Criterion!

Sincerely,
Tyson

Gregory · #1028 Post by **Gregory** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 1:11 am

cronenfly wrote:Earlier in the quotation they indicate that the Kurosawa catalogue would be completed with the releases of Dodes'ka-den, Sanshiro Sugata, The Most Beautiful, They Who Step on the Tiger's Tail, Sanshiro Sugata, Part II and Those Who Make Tomorrow, the first by Criterion and the rest (presumably) by Eclipse. I only posted the quotation as confirmation of Dodes'ka-den, as it's just speculation on their part that the others will see Eclipse release. I misinterpreted that particular comment at first too.

It was there plain as day but somehow my brain only the words in bold.

Cinephrenic · #1029 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 10:33 pm

Melville box?

Second Breath
Magnet of Doom
Le Doulos
Two Men in Manhattan
Leon Morin, pretre
Le Silence de la Mer

Via_Chicago · #1030 Post by **Via_Chicago** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 12:00 am

Cinephrenic wrote:Melville box?

Second Breath
Magnet of Doom
Le Doulos
Two Men in Manhattan
Leon Morin, pretre
Le Silence de la Mer

Well, we know that at least two of those titles (DOULOS, LEON MORIN) will one day be Criterions (Rialto...).

CSM126 · #1031 Post by **CSM126** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:24 pm

This thought entered my head this morning...If Criterion is working with Fox again...what about Borat? With the rather thin edition it's currently available in, and considering it's immense popularity, it's obviously a title destined for a double-dip SE anyway. And I do remember Borat being mentioned on Criterion's blog as a film they chose to see, so they like it...

A long shot at best, yeah, but you never know.

keeproductions · Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:31 pm

CSM126 wrote:If Criterion is working with Fox again...what about Borat?

Funny...yes. Immensely popular...yes. But what about it screams Criterion?

CSM126 · #1033 Post by **CSM126** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:34 pm

keeproductions wrote:
CSM126 wrote:If Criterion is working with Fox again...what about Borat?
Funny...yes. Immensely popular...yes. But what about it screams Criterion?

What about Armageddon screamed Criterion? They could put together a pretty killer edition, and make a lot of money off of it.

keeproductions · Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:48 pm

What about Armageddon screamed Criterion? They could put together a pretty killer edition, and make a lot of money off of it.

Before posting my original response I actual wrote and deleted "No fair citing Armageddon as justification." But then I realized there really is no other response.

Keith

CSM126 · #1035 Post by **CSM126** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:53 pm

keeproductions wrote:Before posting my original response I actual wrote and deleted "No fair citing Armageddon as justification." But then I realized there really is no other response.

Well there is the simple "Borat is a great fucking movie" response, but that's all relative I suppose.

keeproductions · Thu Oct 25, 2007 4:06 pm

Well there is the simple "Borat is a great fucking movie" response, but that's all relative I suppose.

I couldn't agree more and thus the Armageddon Response goes right out the window.

For me, what ever the somewhat undefinable Criterion Cache is, Borat ain't got it.

Thanks for the responses though. 90% of my meager 53 posts have been threadkillers in the past.

#1037 Post by **domino harvey** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 4:15 pm

Will never happen if only because a Borat special edition would make money for Fox. The End.

The Elegant Dandy Fop · Mon Oct 29, 2007 8:20 pm

Zentropa was released previously on VHS by Touchstone.

Can we expect more Buena Vista owned films?

Cronenfly · #1039 Post by **Cronenfly** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 8:29 pm

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:Zentropa was released previously on VHS by Touchstone.

Can we expect more Buena Vista owned films?

It's possible that this is now a Genius Products license (i.e. the Weinsteins took the rights with them from BV/Miramax when they jumped ship): they are featured as a licensee on the Breathless Criterion (which I know that GP acquired from Wellspring, but still). That said, though, it's hard to know the rights situation, and it's entirely possible that its either still with Touchstone/Miramax/Buena Vista, or that the rights have reverted to von Trier et al. Only time will tell, I suppose.

FilmFanSea · #1040 Post by **FilmFanSea** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 10:46 pm

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:Zentropa was released previously on VHS by Touchstone.

Can we expect more Buena Vista owned films?

Buena Vista (or one of its subsidiaries) was set to release Zentropa on DVD in April 2003. The release was cancelled because they discovered that they no longer held the rights, IIRC.

Cronenfly · #1041 Post by **Cronenfly** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 1:53 am

FilmFanSea wrote:
The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:Zentropa was released previously on VHS by Touchstone.

Can we expect more Buena Vista owned films?
Buena Vista (or one of its subsidiaries) was set to release Zentropa on DVD in April 2003. The release was cancelled because they discovered that they no longer held the rights, IIRC.

Good to know. This makes an independent licensee almost a definite.

jaredsap · #1042 Post by **jaredsap** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 2:25 am

Anyone think THE IDIOTS might also be on the way? It's never gotten a R1 release, so a Criterion berth seems a decent possibility.

Narshty · #1043 Post by **Narshty** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 6:07 pm

Cronenfly wrote:
The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:Zentropa was released previously on VHS by Touchstone.

Can we expect more Buena Vista owned films?
It's possible that this is now a Genius Products license (i.e. the Weinsteins took the rights with them from BV/Miramax when they jumped ship): they are featured as a licensee on the Breathless Criterion (which I know that GP acquired from Wellspring, but still). That said, though, it's hard to know the rights situation, and it's entirely possible that its either still with Touchstone/Miramax/Buena Vista, or that the rights have reverted to von Trier et al. Only time will tell, I suppose.

The Genius Products logo may appear simply because Breathless was originally a Wellspring licenced property, and the Weinsteins have since taken them over (or whatever it's called nowadays). It may just be honoring an old deal with a new logo rather than a direct licence from the Weinsteins. Though it would be fantastic to see Criterion handle a couple of the Samuel Bronston/Anthony Mann epics.

justeleblanc · #1044 Post by **justeleblanc** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 7:23 pm

Narshty wrote:The Genius Products logo may appear simply because Breathless was originally a Wellspring licenced property, and the Weinsteins have since taken them over (or whatever it's called nowadays). It may just be honoring an old deal with a new logo rather than a direct licence from the Weinsteins. Though it would be fantastic to see Criterion handle a couple of the Samuel Bronston/Anthony Mann epics.

The Bronston/Mann pics will be released on the "Miriam Collection" label from Weinstein.

#1045 Post by **Jeff** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 9:35 pm

Buttery Jeb wrote:More news from the Film Forum schedule for late '07: new 35mm restorations from Janus Films of Albert Lamorisse's "The Red Balloon" and "White Mane." The two films run as one double feature, opening November 16th.

The same double feature is playing at The Starz FilmCenter in Denver December 21-27. I expect we'll see a Albert Lamorisse disc with these two films timed to tie in with the release of Hou's Flight of the Red Balloon.

miless · #1046 Post by **miless** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 9:40 pm

Jeff wrote:I expect we'll see a Albert Lamorisse disc with these two films timed to tie in with the release of Hou's Flight of the Red Balloon.

Maybe they'll even release Hou's film...

#1047 Post by **Jeff** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 9:51 pm

miless wrote:
Jeff wrote:I expect we'll see a Albert Lamorisse disc with these two films timed to tie in with the release of Hou's Flight of the Red Balloon.
Maybe they'll even release Hou's film...

That part isn't likely. IFC Films picked up the North American distribution rights to the Hou.

This looks to be the next major theatrical release from Janus. Since it is no longer random speculation, but a relatively sure and imminent thing (and since posts can no longer be easily split off from this thread), I have created a new thread for the release here.

#1048 Post by **Jeff** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 11:41 pm

This thread has reached an unwieldy length. Posts can no longer be split from it without entering the database. A shiny new random speculation thread can be found here.

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