Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.3

[Jeff]

I agree. It is likely that similar to Breathless, the Cercle Rouge license is through Rialto, not StudioCanal.

StudioCanal licensed the U.S. theatrical rights to Rialto and the video rights to Criterion as part of a package deal. Eventually, those rights will revert to StudioCanal, but Criterion's got it for now. It is one of several StudioCanal titles still in active circulation from Criterion. Not all the licenses will expire at the same time, and there will probably continue to be waves of StudioCanal titles going out of print over the next couple of years. I suspect that Criterion thinks that they have enough time left with Le Cercle rouge to make a Blu-ray release worthwhile.

Breathless is in a different situation, because StudioCanal does not hold any U.S. rights to the film. The U.S. rights to Breathless are owned by French distributor Pretty Pictures. They are the ones that licensed the Breathless theatrical rights to Rialto and video rights to Criterion. Both companies did work with StudioCanal on the release though, because SC controls the elements and did the restoration.

[Minkin]

One of the Facebookers (well, actually his friend) noticed that there are four feathers coming out of the pillow.

[Cinephrenic]

The Four Feathers was on last years New Years picture and it still hasn't landed.

[CSM126]

The Four Feathers was on last years New Years picture and it still hasn't landed.

To be fair, that was one feather and probably referencing Darjeeling Limited.

[captveg]

Are there certain DVDs that Criterion are less likely to release onto Blu? Sorry if this question has been asked before.

Aside from OOP titles, I would say that Hoop Dreams is a safe bet to never get the HD treatment, due to being shot on SD video. Same goes for the Beastie Boys Video Anthology.

Otherwise, we've reached a point of everything being up in the air, IMO. As of right now, releases that were DVD only after Criterion started releasing Blu-rays (starting with Bottle Rocket, #450) have yet to get a Blu-ray upgrade/get announced for Blu-ray after the DVD version has streeted. I imagine they'll make that precedent eventually, but it may be in their interest to wait on those as opposed to the catalog of the pre-Blu-ray days.

[justeleblanc]

And I --hopefully correctly-- presume Eclipse DVDs will be the last to see an upgrade. Those are really the only DVDs I'm buying from Criterion these days.

[SpiderBaby]

This is just for people who are interested and just to brush off I guess (nothing important, just a search I'm doing) and fits the "random specultion" part of this thread,

I have been e-mailing a few places (with the help of direction by ianungstad) to see who has the rights to release Hopper's The Last Movie on dvd. While Criterion would be the simple one to ask, they haven't replied. Out of all, I just went ahead an e-mailed Janus (won't hurt, knowing if they somehow had it, a Criterion release would follow), and they said unfortunately they don't. The Anthology Film Archive (ianungstad's suggetion for me, thanks for helping btw, he said they have the only complete version of the film still in existence in it's permanent collection) said they had no clue who has them. Now any smart person would prob say "hey, that must mean the Hopper estate has it still!". But that would prob be the worst place for fans of this hoping for a release to be, since his ex-wife is now fighting the estate, which will prob take a while.

Now, should I keep e-mailing Criterion just to have a window of hope open, or someone has more knowledge on it than I do?

[ianungstad]

Criterion could well be sitting on the rights. On the wiki page for the film it quotes a 2006 interview with Dennis, in which he mentions that he bought back the rights to the film and was in the midst of planning a dvd release.

Even if they did have it, I wouldn't expect it anytime soon. Good luck emailing them!

[SpiderBaby]

Criterion could well be sitting on the rights. On the wiki page for the film it quotes a 2006 interview with Dennis, in which he mentions that he bought back the rights to the film and was in the midst of planning a dvd release.

Even if they did have it, I wouldn't expect it anytime soon. Good luck emailing them!

lol, thanks. I hope they e-mail back sometime. Though I'm not e-mailing daily. I'm taking my time with it. E-mail every other week or so. I understand any release won't happen out of the blue (no pun intended), but knowing if there is even a release planned (like Godard's Weekend, but in a worse situation than Weekend, since that atleast had a release at some point) it is so much better than never knowing.

[Adam]

The Hopper estate owns it. When it played in LA, it came from them. One of the producers may also partly own it, or perhaps even Warner Bros. When it showed at Cinefamily last year, the DVD question was raised, but no real answer was given. Don't hold your breath.

[SpiderBaby]

The Hopper estate owns it. When it played in LA, it came from them. One of the producers may also partly own it, or perhaps even Warner Bros. When it showed at Cinefamily last year, the DVD question was raised, but no real answer was given. Don't hold your breath.

Thanks. More info is good info. The estate thing sucks though, since they are going through battles right now.

[captveg]

And I --hopefully correctly-- presume Eclipse DVDs will be the last to see an upgrade. Those are really the only DVDs I'm buying from Criterion these days.

I'd be very surprised if the Eclipse sets ever get Blu-ray upgrades. There's just too little incentive to do so.

[knives]

Not to speak of the fact that at least one of them couldn't be done in Blu-ray.

[aox]

Not to speak of the fact that at least one of them couldn't be done in Blu-ray.

which one?

[mfunk9786]

Anything can be released on Blu-ray...

[Oedipax]

Anything can be released on Blu-ray...

I think the implication was there are some films that were shot in standard-def video (the later Allan King works, anything else?) and hence would actually have to be upscaled from 480p to 1080p for bluray, which really erases a lot of the benefit of the higher def format (although you might make some gains in terms of compression artifacts). Outside the Eclipse line, Costa's In Vanda's Room and Colossal Youth are also both shot on standard-def MiniDV cameras (not that that don't look amazing as-is).

[mfunk9786]

Regardless of how marginal the increase in quality, though, anything can be released on Blu-ray.

[knives]

Regardless of how marginal the increase in quality, though, anything can be released on Blu-ray.

Fine, but would any sane company release DV work on Blu. Just look at how horrific Inland Empire turned out.

[aox]

Anything can be released on Blu-ray...

I think the implication was there are some films that were shot in standard-def video (the later Allan King works, anything else?) and hence would actually have to be upscaled from 480p to 1080p for bluray, which really erases a lot of the benefit of the higher def format (although you might make some gains in terms of compression artifacts). Outside the Eclipse line, Costa's In Vanda's Room and Colossal Youth are also both shot on standard-def MiniDV cameras (not that that don't look amazing as-is).

True, I was leading to this. I think I had read that King did some of films on 480 DV. The only benefit BD would have for this set is space. You could then put 3-4 films uncompressed on a single BD. But, that would be a silly reason to upgrade.

[Anthony Thorne]

Re the 'coffee and knife' from a page or two back, I recall that the climax of FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS features Depp and Benicio Del Toro in a diner being served by Ellen Barkin, and Del Toro eventually menaces her with a knife. Not sure if that's the one referenced but it's a reasonable suggestion.

[SpiderBaby]

The Hopper estate owns it. When it played in LA, it came from them. One of the producers may also partly own it, or perhaps even Warner Bros. When it showed at Cinefamily last year, the DVD question was raised, but no real answer was given. Don't hold your breath.

Quick update: John M. got back with me and Criterion does not have the rights for The Last Movie (not shocked). So pretty much hide your vhs, hide your bootlegs, because this movie prob will never be out on dvd!

[domino harvey]

I think that the sun inside or behind (I can't tell) the briefcase might be a hint at A Brighter Summer Day. Can anyone tell me if that is plausible or is it just wishful thinking on my part?

It is without a doubt a reference to Kiss Me Deadly

[GiovanniR]

Re the 'coffee and knife' from a page or two back, I recall that the climax of FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS features Depp and Benicio Del Toro in a diner being served by Ellen Barkin, and Del Toro eventually menaces her with a knife. Not sure if that's the one referenced but it's a reasonable suggestion.

I believe they sent a hint at a Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Blu-Ray a few months ago in a Newsletter. I am not sure if they re-do hints in stuff like this, but it seems like almost 100% that it's White Material to me.

I think that the sun inside or behind (I can't tell) the briefcase might be a hint at A Brighter Summer Day. Can anyone tell me if that is plausible or is it just wishful thinking on my part?

It is without a doubt a reference to Kiss Me Deadly

I see, I sadly haven't seen Kiss Me Deadly yet. I knew the Briefcase was hint at it, but wasn't sure what the sun meant and that was just a little something gnawing at me. Thanks for the confirmation.

[swo17]

domino commenting on a post that hadn't even been made yet, now them are some sunlight-in-a-briefcase type antics.

While I'm here for a stretch, now that I think about it, A Brighter Summer Day does feature swords. Did coffee also play a prominent role that I'm forgetting? Or maybe that's just a way to make your day brighter. Also, sum of the beans are drawn better than othmers, amirite?

[Murdoch]

domino commenting on a post that hadn't even been made yet, now them are some sunlight-in-a-briefcase type antics.

It's happened before and it scares me