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Lowry_Sam wrote: Wed Jun 10, 2026 6:36 pm If Criterion is going to help save old quality tv shows from falling into oblivion, I would love to seem them raid PBS' vaults before the attempts to completely destroy/privatize it are completely successful. As far as I know, I'll Fly Away has never been released on disc, a crime against US television broadcast history if there ever was one. Then there's the short-lived weekly 30 min. sketch series Trying Times that featured a new director (Johnathan Demme, Christopher Guest, Alan Arkin, Buck Henry, Michael Lindsay-Hogg...) and cast (Catherine O'Hara, Candace Bergen, Teri Garr, Spalding Gray, Steven Wright, Carrie Fisher, David Byrne, Gena Davis...) each week that unfortunately didn't get picked up by all affiliates and disappeared just as fast as it started. Then of course there's also all PBS' documentary work over the decades starting with the monumental An American Family series.

PBS only aired the I'll Fly Away movie, the series was on NBC. But PBS doesn't really own anything, it distributes programming created and owned by others, whether that's member stations like WGBH or outside producers like Sesame Workshop and Zipporah. I'll Fly Away is probably with WB via Lorimar, Trying Times was jointly copyrighted by KCET and Zorah Productions (whose assets might've been on the block last year after Technicolor shut down), An American Family is with WNET (but the Raymonds probably own the follow-ups), etc. etc. It doesn't take away from the broader point that Criterion and others should be digging into this stuff, but there's no central source for it.

I’ll Fly Away must have insane music rights issues.

I can’t see Criterion rescuing even any limited television series like Tanner ‘88 again unless it’s another Fassbinder, and I think that well is dry

Maybe a one-off TV film like Robert Downey’s Sticks and Bones

Well, they released Small Axe and The Underground Railroad just a few years ago. I wouldn't discount the possibility of them doing this again in the future, though I'm sure it will never become a regular thing.

We also know that Pialat's La maison des bois is coming

Always felt The Prisoner would make a lot of sense as a Criterion release, especially because no one else in the US seems to be interested in releasing it. Admittedly, I can’t imagine they’d beat the Australian version, but it would be worth it just to give the series a higher profile in America.

Are we expecting Criterion or someone else to release Blossoms Shanghai on disc in the near future?

Mark L. wrote: Thu Jun 11, 2026 4:19 pm Always felt The Prisoner would make a lot of sense as a Criterion release, especially because no one else in the US seems to be interested in releasing it. Admittedly, I can’t imagine they’d beat the Australian version, but it would be worth it just to give the series a higher profile in America.

and Criterion favorite Alex Cox wrote a whole book about it

Being a limited series, I think The Prisoner would absolutely fit in the Criterion wheelhouse. A great idea.

I would want Mani Kaul’s adaptation of Dostoevsky’s The Idiot. It’s a brilliant miniseries with a runtime shorter than A Brighter Summer’s Day. Also marks the first major role of Shah Rukh Khan which would be a good way to have another megastar represented in the collection.

Word on the street is the B&N sale starts Fri the 26th

I would think that if Criterion were to release a classic UK series like The Prisoner, Prime Suspect, I, Claudius, Yes Minister/Prime Minister or Brideshead Revisited, they would do so when new 4k restorations are available (if elements allow) as they have already been released on blu-ray in the US (though some are now OOP).

Criterion would probably be more likely to release EU or Asian series that haven’t received US a US release since DVD (if that): Das Boot, Underground, Heimat, The Mysteries of Lisbon, Asura, The Best Of Youth. (Though it missed the boat with The Kingdom).

Related to this discussion, The Prisoner is going to be on the Channel next month.

I noticed that, what a coincidence! I wonder how the transfer will compare to the old blu-ray set, which I have, but welcome the addition enthusiastically nonetheless & hope it's a sign of things to come. It's too bad they didn't also add the original Brideshead Revisited tv series when they had the more recent film on, which is why I was skeptical they'd add The Prisoner. Maybe they'll do an Evelyn Waugh theme & have another opportunity to add, though they don't do many writer themes so very wishful thinking.

I doubt it. I remember the Japan Society held a retrospective for Kazuo Hara's films a few years ago (I think that was the first sign that Criterion was releasing his work), and it had several films not included in the Eclipse set.

Zot! wrote:

Adam X wrote: Sat Jun 06, 2026 1:48 pm

Zot! wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2026 7:01 pmthe cut version was the original US theatrical version, so I don't care much.

You might not, but for pretty much the rest of the world, we had the uncensored version, including home video, until the DVD era when Hollywood studios started spreading MPAA-neutered masters outside North America. For this and a number of other films. Watching Wild at Heart with that fake smoke at the end completely mutes & ruins the impact of Bobby Peru’s final scene. It’s like a parent suddenly walking in on you, and telling you to turn the sound down.

Here’s hoping, much like A Nightmare on Elm Street’s 1 & 5, we finally get an uncensored version again.

Alright, fair enough, I endorse your impassioned plea.

Saw the Criterion resto this evening, and it was uncut

I see Radiance Films has released a new 4K UHD remaster of The Pornographers (1966) for region B; the title is listed as still available on DVD by Criterion. What are the possibilities of an upgrade stateside?

Radiance has been doing that a lot recently. They've done Le Notte Bianchi, Amour Fou, and Los Golfos, all of which Janus has the rights to but hasn't touched.

What’s the likelihood that any of the P Sturges’ get upgrades to 4k? I noticed that the DVD of UNFAITHFULLY YOURS is currently unavailable. Not sure if this is recent

FrauBlucher wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2026 12:52 pm What’s the likelihood that any of the P Sturges’ get upgrades to 4k? I noticed that the DVD of UNFAITHFULLY YOURS is currently unavailable. Not sure if this is recent

It's been four years since the last pre-90s Fox title. Disney doesn't seem to allow licensing anymore unless the director is involved.

Hogfather wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2026 2:01 pm Radiance has been doing that a lot recently. They've done Le Notte Bianchi, Amour Fou, and Los Golfos, all of which Janus has the rights to but hasn't touched.

I wonder if Criterion feels the market isn't robust enough to justify competing editions of these titles. Likewise The Pornographers (I can't see Criterion topping a Radiance UHD release in any case). On this note, can we presume Criterion are also sitting on Bresson's Une Femme Douce, although that one would be licensed from Paramount?

Speaking of Pialat's La Maison des Bois, I could see them dedicating an Eclipse release to that alone.

rrenault wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2026 2:39 pm

Hogfather wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2026 2:01 pm Radiance has been doing that a lot recently. They've done Le Notte Bianchi, Amour Fou, and Los Golfos, all of which Janus has the rights to but hasn't touched.

I wonder if Criterion feels the market isn't robust enough to justify competing editions of these titles. Likewise The Pornographers (I can't see Criterion topping a Radiance UHD release in any case). On this note, can we presume Criterion are also sitting on Bresson's Une Femme Douce, although that one would be licensed from Paramount?

Doubtful, because the amount of people that import is a small part of the overall market.

As for the Bresson, no, if they licensed it from the studio they'll release it.

FlickeringWindow wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2026 2:06 pm

FrauBlucher wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2026 12:52 pm What’s the likelihood that any of the P Sturges’ get upgrades to 4k? I noticed that the DVD of UNFAITHFULLY YOURS is currently unavailable. Not sure if this is recent

It's been four years since the last pre-90s Fox title. Disney doesn't seem to allow licensing anymore unless the director is involved.

But isn't a majority of his films with Paramount, now Universal?

FrauBlucher wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2026 5:13 pm

FlickeringWindow wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2026 2:06 pm

FrauBlucher wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2026 12:52 pm What’s the likelihood that any of the P Sturges’ get upgrades to 4k? I noticed that the DVD of UNFAITHFULLY YOURS is currently unavailable. Not sure if this is recent

It's been four years since the last pre-90s Fox title. Disney doesn't seem to allow licensing anymore unless the director is involved.

But isn't a majority of his films with Paramount, now Universal?

Unfaithfully Yours is a Fox title, now Disney.

rrenault wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2026 2:39 pm

Hogfather wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2026 2:01 pm Radiance has been doing that a lot recently. They've done Le Notte Bianchi, Amour Fou, and Los Golfos, all of which Janus has the rights to but hasn't touched.

I wonder if Criterion feels the market isn't robust enough to justify competing editions of these titles. Likewise The Pornographers (I can't see Criterion topping a Radiance UHD release in any case). On this note, can we presume Criterion are also sitting on Bresson's Une Femme Douce, although that one would be licensed from Paramount?

Speaking of Pialat's La Maison des Bois, I could see them dedicating an Eclipse release to that alone.

I don't know that they're thinking about the market at all. They're putting out American Dream, Cruel Story of Youth, the Flamenco Trilogy, and High Art, and none of these seem to me like they're going to be big sellers. Furthermore, they don't seem to have done anything to stop Radiance from putting out all-region blu-rays of I Fidanzati, Il Posto, Viridiana, The Exterminating Angel, Simon of the Desert, Black God, White Devil, Death by Hanging, and Häxan (a public domain movie, but both Radiance and Criterion use the same 2K restoration). The only Radiance Region B-exclusive blu-rays of Criterion films are Senso and The Pornographers. Janus owns the North American rights to most of these movies (Senso being the exception), so maybe they could have asked Radiance to make their releases exclusive to region B but didn't care to. Or maybe they just don't have that kind of weight. Or maybe they think the market for blu-rays of an Imamura film is small enough that they asked Radiance to region-lock their release. Whichever one it is, it doesn't seem like this is something that Criterion is paying much heed to.

As for La Maison des Bois, I think the more likely option is that Criterion will release it in their regular series with only one or two bonus features. Criterion has released two miniseries in the Eclipse series: Phantom India and The Age of the Medici. Neither was given its own Eclipse set. I think they'll probably scrape up one or two archival interviews with Pialat and the actors and an interview with a reputable film scholar.

FlickeringWindow wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2026 2:06 pm

FrauBlucher wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2026 12:52 pm What’s the likelihood that any of the P Sturges’ get upgrades to 4k? I noticed that the DVD of UNFAITHFULLY YOURS is currently unavailable. Not sure if this is recent

It's been four years since the last pre-90s Fox title. Disney doesn't seem to allow licensing anymore unless the director is involved.

I wonder if his family could get them to do it. His son Tom Sturges was involved in the recent The Lady Eve blu-ray.