I don't think that things are sad. Not even close.

The fact that there might be some recent interesting films from these countries does not mean that they are available to license. Additionally, you may not be aware, but for many of the big films in some of the countries you have listed above there may not be suitable elements to work with. Going forward things will only get better, but for the time being Criterion are doing quite well. There are already films in the collection from India (2), Iran, and Russia, plus Walkabout and Sweetie could count as Australian films.

The most obvious gap is: Spain.

Pro-B

Because more than likely there are no suitable HD masters for the films that are worth releasing.

If you are interested in classic Brazilian cinema then I'd say you should not wait and import this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-God-Wh...7271473&sr=1-2

And then buy locally this:
http://www.amazon.com/Left-Father-Fi...7271677&sr=1-1

And this:
http://www.amazon.com/Brazil-Â-Bett...7272543&sr=1-1

And this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Linha-De-Pas...7271964&sr=1-1


Cuban films:

I could see this eventually coming out on Blu-ray:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cuba-Soy-Bon...7271776&sr=1-3

But certainly not this:
http://www.amazon.com/Masterworks-Co...7271818&sr=1-1

Or this (Great film):

http://www.amazon.com/Barrio-Perugor...7271849&sr=1-8

On a side note, this would be great to have on Blu-ray, but I would recommend getting the DVD now:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Pomeg...7272249&sr=1-1

I know there are some films that would be really difficult to get but, to be honest, almost all the industries I mentioned have recent important and significant films whose tranfers should not be hard to do. And I know some of them are represented to a point but; why is there such a big gap between what has been released from those countries and other like France or Japan? We only have Kiarostami's Close-Up from Iran, for example, compared to the dozens of French titles available. I am not really complaining about what we are currently getting but would LOVE to see Criterion trying to obtain the rights for a greater variety of films.

Thanks Pro, but I have most of those, plus Brazilian dvd releases of 60's Marginal Cinema like Red Light Bandit that are region-free.

I recommend The Red Light Bandit btw (the seller that is selling this is super fast to ship):

http://www.amazon.com/Bandido-Luz-Ve...7274201&sr=8-2

My opinion wasn't about HD masters and blu-rays, because the Brazilian films I am mostly interested in (The Marginal Cinema, like the film in my avatar, "Killed the Family and Went to the Movies"), the transfers of those movies for the most part are bad anyway, as they are pretty much B-movies. So for as long as Criterion has been around, dvd-wise, South American releases has been lacking. I get rights issues, but entire countries worth of films and not even 1 can be had for over a decade?

I would buy a vhs of this film, if there was one. I have only watched it on the internet and had to make my own custom subtitles.

I can now confirm the the November B&N sale will be 11/1-11/21. Sadly this means that 12 Angry Men and Rushmore won't be a part of this sale.

Three Colors is 11/15 so I'm happy

For me, I would really like to see more films from the Soviet Union/Russia and Australia on blu. Some of these are DVDs that Criterion has already released that I really want to see upgraded.

Australia is really wanted. If Criterion could get the rights, I would love to see more Australian films from the 1970s and 1980s, what is now known as the Australian New Wave. At the time I was watching many of these films on VHS and DVD I did not realize it was a special period in Australian cinema. I just remember that I was watching a lot of movies coming out of Australia on home media and really liking them. Movies like Breaker Morant (already on blu-ray), Gallipoli, The Year of Living Dangerously, Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Lighthorsemen, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, and of course the Mad Max movies (two of three also on blu-ray) to name only a few.

In fact, it was Australian and Soviet Union movies that first got me to expand my film horizons beyond Hollywood.

The answer is pretty simple, because French and Japanese films most likely sell a lot more copies.

Grr. 12 Angry Men was the November release I was looking most forward to! Even more than Harry Potter!

I'm trying to decide who to pre-order it from:

Canadian Amazon: 38.49 is the sale price, total ends up being 44.26 once free shipping and 15% sales tax is applied
US Amazon: 27.99 is the sale price, total ends up being 40.31 once the 7.98 shipping is applied
B&N: 30.88 is the sale price, total ends up being 38.40 once the 5.98 shipping and 1.94 sales tax is applied.

However, I have to take into consideration what the dollar will be doing in November, and the fact that I'm still waiting on my Sergio Leone Dollars trilogy box set from B&N that they shipped on the 26th of August. Also, Amazon US has the same shipping speed as the Canadian one. Such a conundrum!

Oh I wish the price were lower on this, and B&N had extended the sale!

Edit: Bit the bullet and went with Amazon US and grabbed Army of Shadows at the same time. AoS is shaping up to be a blind buy, unless I watch it between now and December.

How do you know they are not?

I agree and it's a bit sad that they don't expand as much as they have. It may be limitations or expectation of what they think might sell or not, I don't know?

The November releases on amazon.ca were initially priced the same as .com. I was hoping this would continue to be the trend but it appears as though it was merely an accident. I'm locked in for the Lumet film at 27.99 from .ca

Damn, I missed that because I was anticipating on the B&N sale. I went with Amazon.com rather than B&N despite the slight difference because Army of Shadows was 21.49 on Amazon, and I know I'll get it within a week from shipping date, whereas B&N will take longer. I'll still order a bunch during the 50% off sale, although not as many as the last one. Mail is slow since Canada Post is still acting silly about the mail:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-s...tops-mail.html

Transfers are one thing, rights, another. The best evidence that there are solid elements available would be a blu-ray release in the country of origin. In the absence of such a release and firm information (Tojo & their negs) what we are left with is speculation as to whether elements, rights, or business/artistic decisions are the determining factor if a film gets a Criterion release.

Think you mean "Toho", unless that's a Freudian slip. :p

Just wondering which dvds you would like criterion to upgrade to blu. For me itd be in the mood for love, brazil and samurai trilogy. Is there any way of finding out which movies they still have the rights to :-)

For all the complaining, Criterion does a fantastic job. If they concentrated all their efforts on more obscure world cinema then there would be an outcry for the staples of world cinema.

Although, most recently they released SECRET SUNSHINE from Korea-- a fantastic film worthy of purchase.

This. I'm quite pleased with Criterion's output, as it has allowed me to look at films that I may not have even considered, even though several people here think they are too mainstream. I'm seeking out non-CC foreign films based on similar films already in the collection, so I think they're doing a pretty good job.

I can't wait until next Friday to go into B&N and buy Harakiri (blind buy! but the Wiki entry looked good) and Kagemusha (another blind buy, but I have all the other Kurosawas on BD in the collection, and I haven't come across a bad film of his yet). I know many here would balk at the price and tell me to wait until November, but NH has no tax, and it's still cheaper than the Canadian price. :D I'm hunting for some non-member coupons to help. I haven't had a new CC title since If.... arrived.

I'm very lucky I have a cinematheque just a few minutes from me that will schedule films from any country. This is what they're showing coming up:


Friday, 09/30/2011 7:15 pm DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST
Friday, 09/30/2011 9:30 pm LEAP YEAR (MEXICO)
Saturday, 10/01/2011 5:15 pm DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST
Saturday, 10/01/2011 7:30 pm LEAP YEAR (MEXICO)
Saturday, 10/01/2011 9:25 pm LOVE STREAMS
Sunday, 10/02/2011 3:30 pm LOVE STREAMS
Sunday, 10/02/2011 6:30 pm WORLD ON A WIRE
Monday, 10/03/2011 7:00 pm WARSAW BRIDGE

I "would, would, would"...but they cost "money, money, money..." ;)

Money is tighter these days, so I'll happily watch it on NetFlix and add it on disc in November. :)

The only Criterion I've added lately with no discounting is "The Phantom Carriage". Damn "silents"! ;)