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They definitely have rights to the The Soft Skin and Two English Girls. Criterion released those titles on LD, and my long-since OOP Fox Lorber copies of the films have Janus Films logos on the opening titles. I understand that Janus also owns the rights to Truffaut's last three films, which have also been OOP on Fox Lorber for some time now. I cannot fathom why they haven't released these films (especially the The Soft Skin and Two English Girls, both of which are criminally underappreciated in my view). These are all titles that desperately need to be released in quality R1 prints. The search for supplemental material should not be that difficult for these titles. If I recall correctly, Criterion licensed some of the extras from their other Truffaut titles from MK2, which has also produced allegedly high quality versions of these titles in R2.

domino harvey wrote:I believe Criterion has the rights to a ton of Truffaut movies but it's anyone's guess as to why they're sitting on them

Cause Truffaut is... um... a hack.

I smell a The ____ Films of Francois Truffaut Eclipse set coming on.

justeleblanc wrote:

domino harvey wrote:I believe Criterion has the rights to a ton of Truffaut movies but it's anyone's guess as to why they're sitting on them

Cause Truffaut is... um... a hack.

I share your non-enthusiasm, but the guy's practically a brand name and we know Criterion loves him, so it's still a mystery as to why he isn't the French Ozu.

I'd be shocked if any of the Truffauts made it onto Eclipse. There are already commentaries, archival interviews and all sorts else on the MK2 discs for all of them. Criterion aren't going to ignore those and do no-frills editions.

But if there are a lot of releases that they've been dragging their feet on putting out, why not just use the Eclipse label for what it was created for?

mfunk9786 wrote:why not just use the Eclipse label for what it was created for?

Low-budget genre films?

No, clearing out their inventory of films they bought the rights to but haven't released yet.

Not to rekindle this particular debate, but Eclipse is designed to release "lost, forgotten, or overshadowed" films, not to clear the Janus back catalogue. Of the releases thus far, I feel that they have largely stuck to this mission statement (the biggest exception being the "Late Ozu" set). Truffaut's hackery (!?) aside, these titles don't really fit the Eclipse mission statement. Some of these titles may be greatly underrated (my view) or tedious sub-Hitchock trifling (the view of others), but they are certainly not lost or forgotten, and I don't particularly think that they are overshadowed by the rest of Truffaut's oeuvre.

Well, here's something nobody asked for -- my prediction of Friday's announcement:

Last Year at Marienbad
The Magician
The 39 Steps
Magnificent Obsession

Eclipse:
Rivette films such as The Nun but not including Paris belongs to Us

I feel uneasy about leaving out a Japanese film, but so it is.

There will be a re-do, and I don't think Alphaville is likely to be given such a prime release. A Hitchcock worked last time. Dark horse: Andrei Rublev

And I would list a Truffaut, but I think Marienbad fulfills the French quota.

As for Blu-Ray...no idea what the pick of the litter will be, nor how much. Probably three of them, one of them being Chungking Express...whenever they do get around to Blu-Ray.

I predict:

You are entirely wrong. But you still complain about how predictable Criterion is.

mfunk9786 wrote:No, clearing out their inventory of films they bought the rights to but haven't released yet.

This was exactly why they started Eclipse, they just can't market it that way.

I suspect that in the not too distant future, most Criterion releases, if not all, will be issued both in standard DVD and Blu-Ray.

Anyone's guess as to what they'll release this month (as always) ...

but surely it's about time for White Dog to finally receive a date of release.

What's the longest it's taken for a film to receive an official 'Yes, we are releasing this' from CC to it actually receiving a date of release?

Shanghai Express probably

I've been predicting a FINAL FILMS OF FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT set from Eclipse, and a TWO ENGLISH GIRLS SE from the CC, for months. But maybe it's just wishful thinking.

THE SOFT SKIN would be great, too, of course.

bdsweeney wrote:Anyone's guess as to what they'll release this month (as always) ...

but surely it's about time for White Dog to finally receive a date of release.

Yeah, and it's also about time for Criterion to release The Spy Who Came In From the Cold.

I probably already know that Fanfan la tulipe will definitely be released in November.

For November (my predictions):
Fanfan la tulipe
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold
Walkabout (re-release)
People on Sunday

Other Potential Candidates:
Bottle Rocket
Naked Kiss (re-release)
Shock Corridor (re-release)

Dark Horses:
Face to Face
Von Sternberg Silents
Kapa

Wasn't Vampyr a 10 year gestation?

Also, the next Eclipse set (most likely January) will be either the Gorin or the Rossellini.

AfterTheRain wrote:I probably already know...

Huh? Do you know this for a fact, or are you just guessing? I certainly can't tell from that sentence...

It is silly to predict what will come, anything is possible knowing Criterion. But guess what, I think the following is coming:

Fanfan la tulipe
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
El Norte
Danton

Thomas J. wrote:There will be a re-do, and I don't think Alphaville is likely to be given such a prime release. A Hitchcock worked last time. Dark horse: Andrei Rublev

Turell said that they aren't planning on re-doing Alphaville (or Black Orpheus, FWIW) anytime soon. I think Andrei Rublev is as good a bet as any.

justeleblanc wrote:Also, the next Eclipse set (most likely January) will be either the Gorin or the Rossellini.

If Gorin worked on extras it won't be an Eclipse...

if eclipse is about clearing out the back catalogue they should release a set a month and not skip November December and since they apparently have years old transfers of Ozu's films sitting around waiting (they aren't window boxed) they might as well release another Ozu set, for instance.

otoh, eclipse sets with marquee names would seem ideal for november january. I think had the massive and expensive box of Berlin Alexanderplatz not come out last year we'd have had the kurasawa eclipse in december. I'm hoping there won't be a big expensive all new criterion set released in nov/dec so we get two new eclipse. Truffaut and Godard seem most likely to get an eclipse release for the holidays since they're getting mizoguchi out in october.

The November and December releases will almost certainly be mostly comprised of:

Bottle Rocket
Fanfan la Tulipe
Human Condition Trilogy
Rossellini Eclipse
People on Sunday
Red Balloon & other Lamorise (don't forget that P-Beck said these were due in the Fall)
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold
Walkabout Redux
Chungking Express
El Norte
White Dog

Others with an outside shot include:

Two or Three Things I Know About Her
Zentropa
Maysles shorts
Scorsese shorts
Naked Kiss/Shock Corridor Redux

Hopefully there will be some surprises thrown in too.

Interview with Whit Stillman yields this nugget:

Q: The funny thing is, as great as it is to see "Metropolitan," it's "The Last Days of Disco" that's become incredibly rare on DVD. Is that a film you ever think might be going through this type of service?

A: I don't know. I control "Metropolitan." I don't really control "Last Days of Disco" and what happens with it. I think Criterion is supposed to bring it out, but those negotiations seem to be taking forever -- not with me, it's with one of the studios.