The Criterion Collection

[Thebunk]

Originally Posted by Querelle

What makes you think they would release Go? Fun film, but I'm not aware of any reason it would be a priority for them

Criterion haven’t cared about their aesthetic or canon in a long time so really, anything is up for grabs at this point as long as their is an audio commentary or visual essay by Film Scholar ABC providing context.

Whether it was The Rock and Armageddon, doing mass market versions of Traffic and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or bowing down to pressure from the New York Times to add more African American film makers to their catalog (which they have increased over the last 4 years).

Buy the film, not the brand of the company releasing it.

[WorkShed]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

I just want it out on 4K... but there are many Criterion releases that I wouldn't consider a priority.

CC is sometimes filled with wild cards.

Wish Arrow would release it if they still do deal for Sony titles.
It missed its 25th anniversary last year. I thought for sure SONY would have dropped it in Nov/Early Dec since it takes place during Christmas.

I asked the screenwriter of Go if Sony had any plans to restore it last year and he sadly responded along the lines of, "I'm pretty sure Sony has forgotten it exists."

Wild that Can't Hardly Wait (another guilty pleasure) got an OCN restoration and absolutely nothing for Go.

[darrellmaclaine]

Have Criterion ever licenced any Miramax films since Paramount took over the library? It's academic to me as the Paramount titles never make it to the UK, but it's a crime there's no Blu-ray of Citizen Ruth (only Payne feature without a Blu) and it's a very Criterion-potential-y title.

Originally Posted by captveg

I love The Man Who Wasnt There, but what I really hope for is for The Ballad of Buster Scrubbs to be rescued from streaming only.

They scrugged it from the schedule.

(But yes I agree. I also want Dolemite Is My Name and can't see a good reason against doing it. Bring Eddie into the collection you cowards!)

Originally Posted by Thebunk

or bowing down to pressure from the New York Times to add more African American film makers to their catalog (which they have increased over the last 4 years).

That was a good thing though?

[MovieBuff647]

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

Have Criterion ever licenced any Miramax films since Paramount took over the library? It's academic to me as the Paramount titles never make it to the UK, but it's a crime there's no Blu-ray of Citizen Ruth (only Payne feature without a Blu) and it's a very Criterion-potential-y title.

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN was distributed by Miramax in the US so yes.

Also, THE ENGLISH PATIENT is in the pipeline.

[mikeainslie]

the only prediction i have for december is pee-wee's big adventure. maybe yi yi, but those are my only guesses that i think are likely.

[Egbert Souse]

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

Have Criterion ever licenced any Miramax films since Paramount took over the library? It's academic to me as the Paramount titles never make it to the UK, but it's a crime there's no Blu-ray of Citizen Ruth (only Payne feature without a Blu) and it's a very Criterion-potential-y title.



They scrugged it from the schedule.

(But yes I agree. I also want Dolemite Is My Name and can't see a good reason against doing it. Bring Eddie into the collection you cowards!)

Trainspotting, No Country for Old Men, and The Grifters so far.

[Rizor]

Originally Posted by jiggyblau

I'm hoping another Wong Kar Wai film gets the 4K treatment. Is that even a possibility? I'd also settle for an individual blu-ray release of Happy Together.

I don't see why not. All the titles in the World of Wong Kar Wai box set have 4K masters, just they'll likely be SDR. From seeing the international 4K releases, I think As Tears Go By and Days of Being Wild would make for good upgrades. As Tears Go By is a bit clean, but looks pretty nice overall. As Tears Go By looks nicely filmic, but the new color grading is a tad too green. Happy Together is an interesting case. The foreign releases have too much DNR but Criterion's Blu-ray is the best in this regard so hopefully they can put out a decent 4K. The masters for Fallen Angels and 2046 appear too soft/detail-less and I doubt they'd be much of an upgrade.

Originally Posted by Techlet

I hope his later work also gets some love eventually. Imagine The Grandmaster on 4K disc.

Would love this too!

I'm really hoping they can manage to do a new restoration of Ashes of Time! Redux looks pretty bad by today's standards. Technology and tastes have come a long way since 2008. Maybe they've found better elements. They've released some deleted scenes and what looks like 4K quality scans of scenes from the original version that were removed from the Redux edit. At the very least something could be done about the all the funky grain management and wacky color grading. And it'd be nice if they could include the original cut even if it's a print scan like the alternate version they included for Days of Being Wild.

[Driver78]

Crossing my fingers that Giuseppe Tornatore's two other gems, Malena and The Star Maker, get picked up by Criterion. The latter only got a DVD release from Miramax. Miramax was the label where films go to die. Very little effort, little to no extras.

[Thebunk]

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

That was a good thing though?

I don’t know. The approach (especially in this era of feigned outrage culture), sort of outweighed the result and just left bad taste in my mouth. And Criterion is a private company, they aren’t MOMA or something. And also I would argue that one thing that criterion has done since the word go is to provide a global lens to cinema.

Regardless, not wanting to get into this debate but for me, the collection of a whole means nothing to me and as I outlined earlier, they strayed off their original path many years before this example.

I’m just glad I don’t have the compulsion of being a completionist for any label period.

[Garmonbozia_]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

i'm shocked there is no NASHVILLE 50th upgrade. Maybe it will show up in December with Criterion.

Even more shocked by the fact that right now only McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Thieves Like Us are available in 4K. The greatest director of the 70s deserves better...

[JasonMichael]

Originally Posted by HipsterTrash

Let's go Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore!

I will only support this release if Linda Lavin's Alice and Polly Holiday's spin-off, Flo, are included in their entirety as a bonus.

[BoydR12]

Sure hope they don’t delay announcements by an entire week due to the current 30% off sale that ends 9/19

[TheDeadlySquid76]

Originally Posted by WorkShed

I asked the screenwriter of Go if Sony had any plans to restore it last year and he sadly responded along the lines of, "I'm pretty sure Sony has forgotten it exists."

Wild that Can't Hardly Wait (another guilty pleasure) got an OCN restoration and absolutely nothing for Go.

That's a bummer. Go is a great film and underdiscussed in the "unconventional Christmas film" canon. I've been holding off tracking down the OOP Blu-Ray in the hopes it would get a 4K.

[FindOneInEveryCar]

Originally Posted by apricissimus

How about Barton Fink for a Coen Brothers movie. I have no idea if that's on anyone's radar. But it would be my first choice for an upgrade/re-release from their catalog.

I'd buy the hell out of that. I just watched my blu-ray recently and the picture quality left a lot to be desired. Barton Fink is my "pop it in and watch it anytime" Coen Brothers movie (even more so than Lebowski).

[darrellmaclaine]

Originally Posted by Thebunk

I don’t know. The approach (especially in this era of feigned outrage culture), sort of outweighed the result and just left bad taste in my mouth. And Criterion is a private company, they aren’t MOMA or something. And also I would argue that one thing that criterion has done since the word go is to provide a global lens to cinema.

I would probably argue that even if the diversified titles weren't to some tastes or didn't perform commercially, and part-agreeing with you that it wasn't initiated in the best way and done slightly out of panic... they were one part of a huge transformation, resuscitation and reputational rescue of the Criterion brand over the last five years. Not that long ago "Criterion" was associated with affluent white male hipsters and had this slightly inaccessible, haughty image. Now it really doesn't - with the growth of the channel, the Closet videos, and the aligning of the brand with the Letterboxd audience (and honestly it wouldn't surprise me if Janus makes a move on Letterboxd at some point), it has become a lot more of an everyman brand, with a wider democratised reach and a 'something for everyone' reputation. Criterion have successfully harnessed the younger demographic's adoption of physical media and saved their brand from becoming a reactionary old relic for the terminally dusty, and regardless of why they first did it (let's face it, it was to stop bad PR on social media by and large), it has done them and their audience a lot of good.

[BobSimms]

reactionary old relic

What time EDT can we expect announcements?

[Macatouille]

Originally Posted by BobSimms

reactionary old relic

What time EDT can we expect announcements?

It's usually about now.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by BobSimms

reactionary old relic

What time EDT can we expect announcements?

The time they announce it.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

The time they announce it.

It's true!

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[FindOneInEveryCar]

Originally Posted by Garmonbozia_

Even more shocked by the fact that right now only McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Thieves Like Us are available in 4K. The greatest director of the 70s deserves better...

His films were hard to collect in the DVD era, too. I think I wound up buying a bootleg of Kansas City. I think it may have been a combination of jumping from studio to studio and the fact that he directed a fair number of misfires (Quintet, O.C. & Stiggs, etc.) and wasn't really held in the same sort of regard (in the conventional wisdom) as someone like Scorsese.

In any case, when I started getting really obsessive about him, you couldn't even find The Long Goodbye or 3 Women on DVD. Which is to say that I'm also disappointed by the lack of 4K Altman releases but I'm not surprised.