criterionforum.org

nice, will probably pick up, but is it news the Classicflix release is OOP? curious who could go for that in the US

It’s been OOP for a couple years I think. I don’t think it sold all that well, so I wouldn’t count on it getting another stateside release (esp since this new one is region free)

ryannichols7 wrote: Thu Sep 18, 2025 5:49 pm nice, will probably pick up, but is it news the Classicflix release is OOP? curious who could go for that in the US

The ClassicFlix release was licensed from Shout Factory as I believe it's a part of the Westchester Films library.

Oversized Silent Night, Deadly Night box includes the first two films on 4K and Blu-ray and only the first on VHS. Also the outer box is described as having a "snow-like partial grit finish."

Next up will be The Passion of the Christ packaged in a white wicker Easter basket

swo17 wrote: Wed Sep 17, 2025 3:05 am Jackie Brown in November

And perhaps unsurprisingly, they are also releasing Kill Bill, in another oversized set (over a foot tall and weighing more than 3 pounds)

I thought shelling out $90 AUD for Jackie Brown was ridiculous but the $200 price tag for Kill Bill is absolutely taking the fucking piss. For the price, I expect a 35mm print of The Whole Bloody Affair being sent out as well.

the best part about these Tarantino editions is they clearly aren't able to make extras for them contractually, so you're literally shelling out big bucks just for the nonsense physical parts of the edition

Like, the reason anyone would even give some of these Imprint releases a second thought at their price point is the extras they commission or license (indeed, they are on the whole one of the best labels for this). Buying this monstrosity will only encourage them to keep releasing things with fewer new extras, which will only make the overall proposition of buying their releases worse for the consumer. I wish I could believe the mouth breathers at the BR forums will resist this cash grab for the greater good if nothing else, but we know this will sell out

November:

Priest
Twentyfourseven
Fish Tank
The Lightship
Eleni
Withnail & I

swo17 wrote: Fri Oct 03, 2025 3:00 am November:

Priest
Twentyfourseven
Fish Tank
The Lightship
Eleni
Withnail & I

The Lightship and Eleni are interesting choices. Barely made a dent when they were released, but from filmmakers whose oeuvres I’m a big fan of. Robert Duvall’s performance in the former is pretty bizarre

Duvall and Klaus Maria Brandauer were originally cast in each other's parts, but then decided to swap. Very much to Duvall's advantage, I'd say - as the leader of the criminals who invade the lightship, he was allowed to go right over the top (and dear God did he take advantage), whereas Brandauer as the fiercely pacifist lightship captain is bizarrely low-key compared with practically every one of his other 1980s performances.

Although part of this may have been influenced by Jerzy Skolimowski's very different relationship with each actor - he adored working with Duvall, who he said was the only actor he'd worked with up to then who turned up so thoroughly prepared on every level, right down to costume and make-up, that Skolimowski had very little to do, whereas in multiple interviews he said that Brandauer was incredibly difficult to work with; he kept trying to play à la Brandauer (i.e. just as OTT as Duvall, if not more so), but that wasn't what Skolimowski wanted.

It was supposed to be the first of many US films by Skolimowski, but in the event it was his only one - he'd been gradually falling out of love with filmmaking, and after being very disappointed by how his two subsequent films, Torrents of Spring (1989) and especially Ferdydurke (1991) turned out, he took a seventeen-year break from directing in order to focus on painting and occasional acting.

January:

James Whale set (Old Dark House 4K, Kiss Before the Mirror, Man in the Iron Mask, Green Hell, Wives Under Suspicion SD)

Hitchcock Early Years 2 (Sabotage, Young & Innocent, Lady Vanishes, Foreign Correspondent, Waltzes from Vienna SD)

David Lean 2 (Passionate Friends, Madeleine, Sound Barrier, Hobson's Choice, Summertime)

Night Gallery: The Complete Collection, at a surprisingly reasonable price

Peking Opera Blues is coming in February with a new translation for the subtitles

domino harvey wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 3:47 pm Peking Opera Blues is coming in February with a new translation for the subtitles

So glad that I’ve held off on the Shout Factory releases

beamish14 wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 6:44 pm

domino harvey wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 3:47 pm Peking Opera Blues is coming in February with a new translation for the subtitles

So glad that I’ve held off on the Shout Factory releases

Maybe hold off just a little bit longer…

City on Fire, Peking Opera Blues 4Ks plus A Chinese Ghost Story Trilogy Bluray set all coming in February plus Farewell My Concubine 4K with Dolby Vision (no confirmation yet who is encoding it), Lust Caution and Tai Chi Zero (2012) on BD

easiest way to get me to buy anything (in this instance, Farewell My Concubine:

NEW Interview with film critic Tony Rayns

Hopefully Lust, Caution comes through with more features too. Great film, and I never picked up the KL release

therewillbeblus wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 6:54 pm Hopefully Lust, Caution comes through with more features too. Great film, and I never picked up the KL release

yes I'm hoping they have good plans for that. I love that movie and wish it was getting a full 4K... hopefully at some point from Kino or even Criterion (who haven't worked with Lee for a little while)

ryannichols7 wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 8:28 pm

therewillbeblus wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 6:54 pm Hopefully Lust, Caution comes through with more features too. Great film, and I never picked up the KL release

yes I'm hoping they have good plans for that. I love that movie and wish it was getting a full 4K... hopefully at some point from Kino or even Criterion (who haven't worked with Lee for a little while)

+1. The film is currently locked in a 2K DI and IIRC they did quite a bit of effects work, so that's probably the basis an eventual upgrade has to work from. Still, with subtle HDR and good encoding, it'd undoubtedly be a stunning disc. That's something we won't get from Imprint, neither in HD nor 4K unless FiM is involved, but here's hoping for one of the better labels.

Spellbinder 4K combo box with the complete annotated shooting script coming in February. This is a great underseen gem but there’s still no way to justify whatever this thing will cost

AUD $119.95

Did anyone pick up the Powell and Pressburger set? Any impressions or reviews of the extras?