Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol. 4

[SternDiet]

For what it's worth, all these movies will also be available in Germany in the Peter Weir Collection, which not only includes Picnic, Last Wave and Cars that Ate Paris but also The Plumber. The Last Wave has already been released and looks very good.

[Jeff]

For what it's worth, all these movies will also be available in Germany in the Peter Weir Collection, which not only includes Picnic, Last Wave and Cars that Ate Paris but also The Plumber.

Janus owns the North American rights to all four of these films too (The Plumber appeared on their Home Vision disc of The Cars that Ate Paris). This would explain the infinite delay on Picnic at Hanging Rock. I'm guessing that they've been waiting for the Aussies to do high def transfers of the other three films. Obviously that's happened by the looks of that German set.

They'll leave the old Picnic disc in print, as it probably still sells well to institutions and (again, guessing here) announce a First Films of Peter Weir four-movie boxed set with a passel of extras on DVD and Blu-ray soon.

[afabry]

Alex Cox works in my building here in Boulder and asked him if Criterion had expressed any interest about Repo Man and he said that they are making it part of the collection. I asked him if it would have the TV edit and he said it is supposed to have all the MoC features, including the TV cut. Cox also said that they were working on something else to add to the Criterion edition. They should be finished around January with a spring release or so Cox made it seem. Bad-ASS! I say.

A number of you probably already know this, but it's nice to have confirmation from a source. I asked about a possible Criterion Sid and Nancy re-release, but he didn't seem to think so. Fox owns it now anyway.

I tried to send this to the guys at Criterion Cast, but the website wouldn't let me send the email. Meh.

[stroszeck]

I've been on a 1990s European movie kick (I guess I've been feeling nostalgic for the old IFC channel from that time period) and realized there are so many movies that used to play all the time that have not been released yet, even on standard DVD. At least in R1 land. Movies like Olivier Olivier and Volere Volare which I must have watched ten times each back then I can't find for the life of me. Several other Gregoire Colin starrers as well. Anyone know if Criterion or perhaps another label might own these?

[onedimension]

Great news about 'Repo Man', maybe they can get Cox and Estevez to do a 'What happened?' interview.

[ianungstad]

Alex Cox works in my building here in Boulder and asked him if Criterion had expressed any interest about Repo Man and he said that they are making it part of the collection. I asked him if it would have the TV edit and he said it is supposed to have all the MoC features, including the TV cut. Cox also said that they were working on something else to add to the Criterion edition. They should be finished around January with a spring release or so Cox made it seem. Bad-ASS! I say.

Great news. Focus has been very generous to Criterion. Hopefully they'll continue to get great titles.

I wonder what that "something else" is? The only Cox films that are out of print are the Anchor Bay titles: Straight to Hell, Three Businessmen, Death and the Compass. Maybe Janus picked them up and they'll do all three as a box. Maybe an Eclipse set? They're probably sold together as a package, so it wouldn't make sense to only license one of the films.

[Jeff]

I wonder what that "something else" is? The only Cox films that are out of print are the Anchor Bay titles..,

I think maybe you misread it the same way I did at first, Ian. It says that Criterion is working on something else to add to the Criterion edition of Repo Man (in addition to the MoC features), not that they are working on a Criterion edition of another Cox film.

[ianungstad]

I did! Thanks for the correction.

[Rupert Pupkin]

we'll have to wait Monday for the announcements or there's a chance for Friday night ?

[Kauno]

For what it's worth, all these movies will also be available in Germany in the Peter Weir Collection, which not only includes Picnic, Last Wave and Cars that Ate Paris but also The Plumber. The Last Wave has already been released and looks very good.

Are those really high def transfers? The same four movies have been available in Scandinavia in the Peter Weir Directors Box. Picture quality is quite a bit on a low side.

[Lowry_Sam]

Movies like Olivier Olivier and Volere Volare which I must have watched ten times each back then I can't find for the life of me. Several other Gregoire Colin starrers as well. Anyone know if Criterion or perhaps another label might own these?

Well Europa, Europa is one of those MGM titles rumored to be a possibility. The World cinema DVD series release was letterboxed & could be vastly improved upon & a Europa, Europa/Olivier, Olivier pairing would also up Criterion's female director quotient quite nicely...

[SternDiet]

For what it's worth, all these movies will also be available in Germany in the Peter Weir Collection, which not only includes Picnic, Last Wave and Cars that Ate Paris but also The Plumber. The Last Wave has already been released and looks very good.

Are those really high def transfers? The same four movies have been available in Scandinavia in the Peter Weir Directors Box. Picture quality is quite a bit on a low side.

I would think so. As I mentioned, The Last Wave is certainly hi-def and looks pretty good and I assume the German Picnic looks about the same as the UK BD disc. Don't know about the other two, but I don't really see the logic of them not being hi-def.

[Brian C]

we'll have to wait Monday for the announcements or there's a chance for Friday night ?

Per Facebook, it'll be Monday.

[ryannichols7]

Alex Cox works in my building here in Boulder and asked him if Criterion had expressed any interest about Repo Man and he said that they are making it part of the collection. I asked him if it would have the TV edit and he said it is supposed to have all the MoC features, including the TV cut. Cox also said that they were working on something else to add to the Criterion edition. They should be finished around January with a spring release or so Cox made it seem. Bad-ASS! I say.

please come with all the MOC extras, as I've really wanted to see all of those but still have yet to go region free. new interviews with Cox and Stanton are great, but can we throw on one with Estevez too? regardless, great news. was an overdue Universal title.

[captveg]

OK, March titles prediction:

The Last Wave (Blu-ray upgrade)
Red River (DVD & Blu-ray)
Spartacus (Blu-ray upgrade)
Wild Strawberries (Blu-ray upgrade)
Y tu mamá también (DVD & Blu-ray)

[jindianajonz]

OK, March titles prediction:

The Last Wave (Blu-ray upgrade)
Red River (DVD & Blu-ray)
Spartacus (Blu-ray upgrade)
Wild Strawberries (Blu-ray upgrade)
Y tu mamá también (DVD & Blu-ray)

Does Criterion have rights to the Spartacus Blu? I thought I recall seeing somewhere that they had DVD rights but not Blu-ray.

[captveg]

OK, March titles prediction:

The Last Wave (Blu-ray upgrade)
Red River (DVD & Blu-ray)
Spartacus (Blu-ray upgrade)
Wild Strawberries (Blu-ray upgrade)
Y tu mamá también (DVD & Blu-ray)

Does Criterion have rights to the Spartacus Blu? I thought I recall seeing somewhere that they had DVD rights but not Blu-ray.

They would not have had the rights when they first started to release Blu-ray, but that would have been true of any earlier DVD release they licensed form Universal, such as Brazil. In any case, the desktop Facebook photo seems to have had Spartacus listed, and the list of titles gleaned from that photo is starting to run dry, hence my guess.

[Jeff]

OK, March titles prediction

I'll play:

Badlands
Y Tu Mama Tambien
The First Films of Peter Weir
Wild Strawberries Blu
Eclipse: Roots of the Czech New Wave

[onedimension]

The MoC announcement of 'La Notte' gives me hope I'm finally getting my Antonioni trilogy on blu.. but probably not this month. I'm guessing at least one 'On The Waterfront' type b&w previous studio property, like 'In A Lonely Place' or 'Red River' or an old screwball comedy..

[Jeff]

I'm guessing at least one 'On The Waterfront' type b&w previous studio property, like 'In A Lonely Place' or 'Red River' or an old screwball comedy..

Ministry of Fear, perhaps.

[ianungstad]

More Criterion titles discontinued:

Beastie Boys Video Anthology

Harlan County USA

Viridiana

What gives Criterion? Hopefully these are just all forthcoming upgrades over the next couple of months. There's no real reason for Viridiana or Harlan County to be OOP from a licensing perspective.

EDIT: They may have lost the rights to Harlan County USA. The streaming version has been pulled from Amazon Instant Video.

[knives]

EDIT: They may have lost the rights to Harlan County USA. The streaming version has been pulled from Amazon Instant Video.

It's owned by Cabin Creek films which seems to just be Barbara Kopple. I imagine it would not go OOP unless they were on bad terms with her.

[swo17]

Harlan County is more than 50% off on Amazon at the moment...

[stroszeck]

Well Europa, Europa is one of those MGM titles rumored to be a possibility. The World cinema DVD series release was letterboxed & could be vastly improved upon & a Europa, Europa/Olivier, Olivier pairing would also up Criterion's female director quotient quite nicely...

We had the recent entry Before the Rain but it seems to me strange that many of the heralded foreign movies of the 1990s are either not released (the Tit and the Moon etc) or otherwise released during the early days of DVD and in non restored/ definitive forms

[CSM126]

Regarding the three recent OOP titles... Isn't it most likely just a temporary out of stock while they change the covers to the new logo? They seem to do that whenever an older title runs out of the current pressing.