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justeleblanc wrote:Been a while since I posted on this forum, but I think I've got it.

CODE (coat) UNKNOWN

It's highly unlikely, but I would really love if this ended up being true. A Haneke boxset from Criterion would be the release of the year for me. [-o<

How about a film with a question mark in the title.

WHO'S HARRY CRUMB?

FrauBlucher wrote:How about a film with a question mark in the title.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

](*,) Sorry, that was a silly guess, but there was a trench coat involved in that film.

It seems Jason Polan is making these clues increasingly difficult - as quite a few recently + the New Years clue have been more vague and open to several interpretations (Here is Your Life also had many passionate guesses for Tree of Life + Waking Life - both of which still seem like they could one day be forthcoming, clue or not).

I'm not sure what to make of this clue. Missing makes sense, as the possessor of the coat goes missing. It's also one of my most-wanted upgrades, so I wouldn't mind that being correct. Code Unknown works for the pun factor + the former Kino titles are no more, thus its a question of who now owns the Haneke films.

I'm not buying that it's Missing. First of all, Blu-grades almost always incorporate the color blue into the picture (though I think there's been at least one exception to this). Secondly, Criterion usually does a pretty good job trying to copy objects from the film that they are alluding to. The jacket in this drawing doesn't really match the one in missing at all- the most prominent features in the film jacket are the pockets on the upper arms and the drawstrings, while the drawing adds straps on the arms that aren't present in the film.

I like that the clue is hard to get, and while I'm not sold on any of these guesses (and some much less than others), Coat Unknown is probably the most convincing yet, though it lacks the "Ah!" factor that most solved clues register, so we'll see

Just a wild guess but if you look at the posters for Quadrophenia you see some guys wearing a long coat and of course it has to do with the Who album.

It'd be a great guess if it weren't already in the collection.

mfunk9786 wrote:It'd be a great guess if it weren't already in the collection.

Oops...forgot about Criterion releasing it.

Someone at Blu-ray.com suggested Young and Innocent as being the clue:

RDA wrote:The most likely candidate is Hitchcock's 'Young And Innocent'. The coat has huge significance to the plot and the identity of the wearer of the coat is the question as there's more than one. The fact that the coat has a belt is vital to 'Young And Innocent'. The clue translates as "who is in the coat?", which is the key plot line. I'd be amazed if the clue is for anything else.

I haven't seen the film, but for those who have, does this line of reasoning make sense then? RDA mentions that the coat in the drawing makes an appearance in the movie as well. Criterion owns the rights to Young and Innocent (they have it on Amazon/Itunes).

It seems like the best answer thus far, well, next to the pun.

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Also, I don't think it was the length of the thread that was causing problems - as my posts have been slow everywhere today - taking a minute + to load. I usually hit the "view new posts" button after submitting once and my post will always show up there, and I have time to read it on that page before the original post has finished loading. So, sorry Domino, you can probably merge this back with Part 3 is you so wish

Minkin wrote:It seems Jason Polan is making these clues increasingly difficult - as quite a few recently + the New Years clue have been more vague and open to several interpretations (Here is Your Life also had many passionate guesses for Tree of Life + Waking Life - both of which still seem like they could one day be forthcoming, clue or not).

I'm not sure what to make of this clue. Missing makes sense, as the possessor of the coat goes missing. It's also one of my most-wanted upgrades, so I wouldn't mind that being correct. Code Unknown works for the pun factor + the former Kino titles are no more, thus its a question of who now owns the Haneke films.

I don't think he's making them harder, I just think that people are getting wilder and wilder with their guesses. For instance, the only way "Waking Life" makes sense is if you say "well, there's a box of life, and it's on a tray, which would likely make it breakfast, and breakfast is a meal you eat when you wake up." That's several steps removed. Newsletter/New Year clues are almost always either:

A.) A visual pun, or
B.) Directly referencing relatively iconic or recognizable things from the film (either an object like Mullholland Drive, or a famous line like It Happened One Night.)

If this were a hint for Missing, the logic goes like this:
-Missing is a mystery film about someone's disappearance.
-A mystery like a disappearance is sort of like a question that has to be answered.
-question marks go at the end of questions.
-Some people in Missing wear coats sometimes.

That's a lot of leaps in logic, never minding the fact that the only similarities between all of these costs is that they have two arms and a neck hole.

Is a Missing upgrade coming? Probably. But it's probably incidental to this clue. So far I think Code Unknown makes the most sense when you consider the kinds of puns they usually make for these, plus it's apparent out-of-print status.

And for the record, Il Soroasso makes way more sense than Midnight Cowboy. You're just letting your heart lead you astray.

EDIT

Minkin wrote:Someone at Blu-ray.com suggested Young and Innocent as being the clue

This makes a whole lot of sense, too.

I don't have a Klu

It kinda looks like Inspector Clouseau coat to me. Not sure why it's so specific to me. Probably an out there and ridiculous thought though.

I think you might be right

The question mark would be a play on the title; (pronounced clue-tee.) and the Fonda in a trench coat ensemble apparently started a major fashion trend with women in the 70s.

Young and Innocent is a good guess too. While Criterion is almost certainly doing both; I think the clue is for Klute.

I usually don't mind when Top Ten guests cheat a little and have ties here and there but come on Olivier Assayas...

Criterion should just be jerks and releases all of our guesses as September titles, thus we'll never know.

I had forgotten about the Klute trenchcoat fashion resurgence after the movie. I don't exactly think the question mark pairs well with Klute - like it only makes sense if you're trying to find a way for Klute to be correct. I think I'm convinced at it being Young & Innocent - as the coat makes an appearance; and the belt, the coat itself and the mystery of who owns it is the plot of the film. Yet, like Here Is Your Life - the alternate guesses are highly likely to be Criterion releases in the future as well (as Klute and Missing upgrade are most assuredly coming, and the Haneke films are up in the air at this point), so I suppose it will take an announcement for us to have closure.

My original guess was Hitchcock's Secret Agent, but I've since become convinced that those who proposed Haneke's Code Unknown are in fact correct. We'll find out in one to three months.

I am convinced it's Young and Innocent. The belt on the coat is a major plot point.

mteller wrote:I am convinced it's Young and Innocent. The belt on the coat is a major plot point.

I'm convinced as well, and we know Criterion has it in the works. Here is a pertinent still from the film.

It's not going to be The Man Who Wasn't There. Universal is putting out a Blu-ray in September.

david hare wrote: The Robert Powell guided tour in "Highlights of London" extra for the Sabotage disc which includes breathless shots of the 1936 London Zoo aquarium must be an all-time low in the secret hell for faded actors that is ultra cheapo disc supplements. It is unspeakable. The quality suggests it was perhaps the first directing exercise for a fledgling young "protégé of some now long gone Saville-esque ITV casting couch executive who had never actually done any previous work in film. It rates as the most excruciating extra I've ever seen on a professionally produced disc.

I believe that extra (and maybe one or two others in this series) was originally produced for the short-lived Carlton Cinema UK TV channel, probably in the late 1990s. If you think it's "an all-time low in the secret hell for faded actors that is ultra cheapo disc supplements," what about Tony Curtis' toe-curling intros for Laserlight's Hitchcock series!?

By the way, the Blu-rays of Young and Innocent, The Lady Vanishes and the 1934 MWKTM are currently in the Network sale for around £5.50. Unfortunately, Sabotage is too recent a release for this sale.

No clue in this month's newsletter - bit odd.

Must be il Sorpasso.

Or the artist was feeling blue and went on a trip...

WAIT!

Andrei Rublev on blu ray!

I don't think that was the monthly newsletter; it was just a promotional email for the Shawn/Gregory box. It's been a while since Criterion has done those, but they used to be a lot more common, and they never contained clues. There will likely be a "real" newsletter in another couple of days.