The Criterion Collection

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by pikachufan1336

There are unfortunately a lot of Fox titles that are out of print on blu ray (Sunrise, An Affair to Remember, etc.). GEE I WONDER WHY!?!

Mrs. Miniver and Sabrina are also OOP, but I'm sure the ladder will get picked up again by Paramount Presents soon, considering this is Audrey Hepburn we are talking about. But still, you never know!

I could live with the old Blu of Sabrina if they'd just redo Funny Face. The latter is one of the worst catalog Blu-rays ever. I can't believe it hasn't been redone. They redid MFL for Blu-ray and 4K, but we're still left with the old disc of Funny Face that honestly looks like a smeared DVD. At least the Blu-ray of Sabrina has enough grain for both discs.

(Also, for some strange reason I never knew Billy Wilder directed Sabrina. )

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Predictions:

I Know Where I'm Going!
Le Samourai 4K
Brazil 4K
Atlantics
The Roaring Twenties

While I'm not familiar with Atlantics, the other four are must-own discs for me. I still haven't bought any of those because I know Brazil and Le samourai have got to come out someday, and I Know Where I'm Going! is dropping from someone within the calendar year. Unless there's a contract that says Criterion gets a later release date, Criterion needs to drop their 4K as quick as possible, or lots of Criterion people will be importing a UK copy (including me).

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by Ned Brainard

There are also a lot of Fox titles that have never had blu-ray releases or even DVDs. I'd rather see Criterion focus on those. If necessary, let Mill Creek reissue the OOP discs (which I would definitely welcome as there are a few I wouldn't mind picking up).

Be careful what you wish for. MC has royally mismanaged the catalogs they have. Sony and Universal pretty much gave MC free reign over their catalogs, and the stuff they put out is awful.

The Fox/Disney stuff going to them is old discs being repressed. That means if the disc was a letterbox laserdisc transfer from the late 90s/early 2000s, that's what will be on the disc.

Begging MC to do anything is like opening Pandora's box. Maybe something good will happen, but it's more likely that a lot of bad stuff will happen.

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by jjhunsecker

I still maintain that Criterion is sitting on these titles for whatever reasons :

The Defiant Ones
West Side Story 4k
Catch 22
Carnal Knowledge
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

And an obvious title that Warner Archives HASN'T released, which makes me wonder if Criterion actually has it and that's Splendor in the Grass

All great, bonus points for West Side Story, Alice, and Splendor. I wonder why the latter two haven't been released on Blu-ray yet, since they would sell.

As for West Side Story, it definitely needs to be restored from scratch, from the negative and six-track mix which both survive. For some reason, I thought I heard it was owned outright by Fox. Not licensed to them as part of the home video deal with MGM, but actually owned by Fox. If so, that would put it under Disney.

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by Areyakiddin

Plus we're getting pretty close to two years since Criterion announced a movie from the Fox catalog. Seems like they've run out of titles from the last deal made pre-Disney buyout and it doesn't seem to be Disney's current policy to license them out to anybody but Mill Creek.

I still can't figure out why Disney would license their catalog to one of the worst boutiques around. Aside from DMC (with it's horrible business model), MC is probably the worst boutique in business. The PQ and AQ is weak at best to unwatchable/unlistenable at worst, there's rarely special features, and movies are either dropped on BD-25s or are packed with four other movies on a BD-50.

Disney shot themselves in the foot with that one. MC could and should just get their shit together, but they're doing fine financially as is, so they see no reason to actually improve.

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by Jexes23

If I can get Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut on 4K from Criterion, I won’t ask again and just let them do their thing.

There hasn't been a new release of a Kubrick movie since last summer, and there's only a tease of the FaD 4K. This is inexcusable.

Bl and EWS need to be on 4K, preferably from a boutique. I would also get behind Criterion redoing ACO, The Shining, and FMJ on 4K, since Criterion would ace them in every single place where WB messed them up.

I can already imagine Carlos' score on ACO cranking out of my theater system in PCM mono...what a thought...

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by Scottie

Going to guess La Dolce Vita in 4K and a re-release on BD.

Other guesses:

The Cassandra Cat BD
Chungking Express 4K
Grave of the Fireflies 4K, BD (wild guess)
Naked Lunch 4K
The Shop on Main Street BD

In for everything, but I would be concerned about Chungking Express. The BS surrounding the box set was enough to make me think twice about any of WKW's films on disc.

Naked Lunch needs a 4K, as does Scanners. I think they both have to happen eventually, but I don't know when. Videodrome just seemed like a weird place to start putting Cronenberg's films on 4K, at least the films Criterion has.

And I would love to see The Shop On Main Street on Blu-ray. The DVD's been OOP for years too, so that's one that should definitely return to the collection.

[gbm82]

Naked Lunch has a fantastic 4k release.

[Ned Brainard]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

Be careful what you wish for. MC has royally mismanaged the catalogs they have. Sony and Universal pretty much gave MC free reign over their catalogs, and the stuff they put out is awful.

The Fox/Disney stuff going to them is old discs being repressed. That means if the disc was a letterbox laserdisc transfer from the late 90s/early 2000s, that's what will be on the disc.

Begging MC to do anything is like opening Pandora's box. Maybe something good will happen, but it's more likely that a lot of bad stuff will happen.

I understand what you're saying, but we were specifically talking about OOP Fox blu-rays and not ca 1999 non-anamorphic DVDs. In this case, I don't think that Mill Creek will screw up that much when all they literally have to do is re-press a previously released blu-ray (we're not exactly in I Dream of Jeannie territory). The overall point I was making is that I would rather see Mill Creek reissue an already existing blu-ray instead of Criterion putting out its own edition. It just comes down to that I would rather see Criterion focus on films that still lack blu-rays. Of course, Criterion very often operates with a much different mindset, but that's its prerogative.

My eyes are definitely wide-open when it comes to Mill Creek, and I always adjust my expectations accordingly. In some cases - like the Jeannie debacle - I have chosen not to purchase. That said, I have no major beefs with many of its releases, and I personally wouldn't mind seeing some Rita Hayworth-style sets for the likes of Alice Faye, Betty Grable, Tyrone Power, etc. Just some no frills HD masters for a very reasonable cost. Yes, it wouldn't be up to WAC, Criterion, or even Kino standards. Would I prefer some other boutique to put them out first? You bet. Will the compression suck? Probably. Will there be some inexplicable video or audio glitches? Most likely, but it would be largely better than what we have now which is largely nothing.

BTW - who said I was begging?

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

I would also get behind Criterion redoing ACO, The Shining, and FMJ on 4K, since Criterion would ace them in every single place where WB messed them up.

What is messed up with the Warner 4K's of these movies?

[koberulz]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

The PQ and AQ is weak at best to unwatchable/unlistenable at worst, there's rarely special features, and movies are either dropped on BD-25s or are packed with four other movies on a BD-50.

None of that is relevant if they're just repressing existing Disney discs.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

Be careful what you wish for. MC has royally mismanaged the catalogs they have. Sony and Universal pretty much gave MC free reign over their catalogs, and the stuff they put out is awful.

I suspect the major reason why big studios deal with outfits like Mill Creek (and perhaps KL too) is that they are willing to license large libraries rather than cherry pick titles, which makes it a lot more streamlined for the studio in terms of accounting and legal procedures.

From what I have heard this was also the reason why Criterion previously lost several Studio Canal film licenses to Lionsgate (including Ran, The Third Man, Man Who Fell to Earth), because they were willing to take on an entire catalog instead of negotiate for individual titles. Don't know if that still holds good.

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by Scottie

Going to guess La Dolce Vita in 4K and a re-release on BD.

Other guesses:

The Cassandra Cat BD
Chungking Express 4K
Grave of the Fireflies 4K, BD (wild guess)
Naked Lunch 4K
The Shop on Main Street BD

Chungking Express 4K, please.

[javy]

I would really love to have I Know Where I'm Going! and Baby Face, and a film from the Bergman set.

[Alfredlynch]

Not sure if there is any grounded basis for recent hopes, but some I want are

Spellbound
Monkey Business
California Split
The Last Wave
Missing
Frantic
Death and the Maiden

[BigDmo531]

I'm gonna guess Boogie Nights UHD until it happens. I would've normally guessed it'd be a July or November release but after seeing Trainspotting get a January release who knows anymore. I just feel it's gonna happen eventually though. Would also love to finally get The Man Who Wasn't There, I know that's been rumored for a few years now. And I'm just gonna throw out Sexy Beast because, while unlikely, it really needs a good U.S. release

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by ravenus

What is messed up with the Warner 4K's of these movies?

The Shining: Color timing was way off; neither aspect ratio was represented (it was matted at the top and bottom to 1.85:1, then cropped on the sides to get it to 1.78:1); mono track is missing (no track even claims to be the original mono mix); logos are plastered; original end credits still missing; UK cut not released in the US sets

FMJ: Mono track missing, Dolby Digital 2.0 track is just a fold-down of the 5.1 mix; standard Blu is a recycled disc from 2007

ACO: Tons of special features missing from the 2011 Blu-ray; tons of newsclips, news specials, documentaries etc from Europe not even licensed for the release, most notably "Forbidden Fruit"; mono track is missing; new 5.1 is even worse than the old 5.1; standard Blu is a recycled disc from 2011

I have the 4K of The Shining, and it was the only time in my entire life I turned the movie off. While the picture is amazing on FMJ and ACO, and the actual scan and restoration on The Shining is great (it's perfect except for the heavy blues), all three can and should be redone. They also could've all been done right the first time, but that's too smart of an idea.

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by ravenus

I suspect the major reason why big studios deal with outfits like Mill Creek (and perhaps KL too) is that they are willing to license large libraries rather than cherry pick titles, which makes it a lot more streamlined for the studio in terms of accounting and legal procedures.

From what I have heard this was also the reason why Criterion previously lost several Studio Canal film licenses to Lionsgate (including Ran, The Third Man, Man Who Fell to Earth), because they were willing to take on an entire catalog instead of negotiate for individual titles. Don't know if that still holds good.

So I'm thinking we blow up Lionsgate to get them to release The Third Man on 4K. Unless they have some boutique deals, they're the only people on this side of the pond that would do it.

Of course if SC does it in the UK, I'll just import it.

[Shane Rollins]

I thought I'd beat the system, and searched the spine number. 1205 gave me Mudbound, 1206 gave me...

No results found.
Did you mean 12 6?

But I tried.

Also, this is weird, there's no #212. 210 and 211 are two Bergman films (I forget which ones), 212 directs you to Fassbinder's World On A Wire (which runs 212 minutes), and 213 is Richard III. I wonder what that story is. Most of the cancelled laserdisc spines have good stories, so the missing #212 is probably interesting too.

[Areyakiddin]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

I thought I'd beat the system, and searched the spine number. 1205 gave me Mudbound, 1206 gave me...



But I tried.

Also, this is weird, there's no #212. 210 and 211 are two Bergman films (I forget which ones), 212 directs you to Fassbinder's World On A Wire (which runs 212 minutes), and 213 is Richard III. I wonder what that story is. Most of the cancelled laserdisc spines have good stories, so the missing #212 is probably interesting too.

#212 is Ingmar Bergman Makes A Movie.

[Show spoiler]