The Criterion Collection

[Shanghai Express]

Ball Of Fire >>>

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by latehong

I Know Where I'm Going! (1945)


The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

Count me in on both of these. I really love each and GOING has been in my Top 5 Wishlist since Martin Scorsese introduced it on the original BRAVO cable channel in the 1980's. This was long before Bravo became the 24/7 Dress Making Network we know today.

Originally Posted by StarDestroyer52

Some Like it Hot is one of my favorite films. TBH, I didn't actually see Bringing Up Baby until last year, so while I would pre-order it Day 1 it's far from being near the top of favorite screwball comedy list, as that would be Some Like it Hot and then It Happened One Night. Though this is probably time for me to also say I like the 1931 version of the, The Front Page more than His Girl Friday. Now, that I admitted that last tidbit of information, I'm going to go hide for cover.

You are not alone. I also prefer the original 1931 film to FRIDAY, but the latter is still enjoyable. Actually, the property itself is so strong, I don't think I've ever seen a bad version of it (maybe an unauthorized ripoff of it here and there hasn't made the grade). I also love Billy Wilder's 1974 version and embrace all its 70's political incorrectness simply because I know Wilder always had a fondness for rule breaking, same as me.

As for Hawks, look, I worshiped the guy since I was a little kid in the late 60's, but I have done some healthy reassessments of my earliest director heroes and he and King Vidor were two that didn't hold my affection unconditionally anymore. This doesn't mean others shouldn't maintain their regard for them or that this translates as my summarily dismissing either director or any of their admirers.

[mande2013]

Originally Posted by Freeza

During one of the last sales I posted about the state of their quality control where it comes to scratched discs. The amount of new releases from them that have some type of scratching upon opening outweighs those that do not for me. For example, only 4 of the 15 discs in my Fellini set were scratch free, and the cover itself was damaged as if it were 'keyed', though none of the packing materials showed any signs of injury.

I really wish Criterion would just fess up to this having been an issue recently. I sincerely doubt they're unaware of this, even though when I e-mailed them about it once they used the "this is not a known issue" line. I received my Essential Fellini set the other day. The packaging reached me in great shape thankfully and only one disc was outside of its pocket, but 8 1/2, which was in place, looked noticeably beat up, and while it plays fine once the menu comes up it takes a suspiciously long time to load on every player I throw it at, although no errors seem to come up if I use a software that scans for them. Granted, living in Europe, I've picked up a few UK Criterion releases here and there and haven't noticed this issue on them, yet. As for North American Criterions I've picked up recently, Cuaron's Roma, The Tree of Life, El Sur, Au Hasard Balthazar, and Stalker appeared scratchless. Betty Blue, Mulholland Dr(purchased during November 2019 B&N sale during a visit to the states), L'Avventura(also have a UK copy, which is unaffected), the Bergman Trilogy, Six Moral Tales, and WCP No. 3 are blemished to some degree. My first copy of Punch Drunk Love was noticeably scratched, but luckily I received an unscratched replacement. I'm only listing discs I own that were clearly pressed at the new plant here. I have a few that said "Disc Made in Mexico" but when opened appeared to be the old BVDL discs like Andrei Rublev and The Magnificent Ambersons and those seemed fine. Funnily enough, I've also picked up An Autumn Afternoon since the start of the pandemic, and that was a leftover copy from the old plant, as well.

[mande2013]

Also, the current facility in Mexico is the last remaining one in North America, so maybe the pressing plant is the issue and all North American discs are affected to some degree. Who knows

[MifuneFan]

According to Target's pre-order page, a few movies previously released by Criterion are getting studio releases:

Days of Heaven
La Dolce Vita
Don't Look Now
Rosemary's Baby

[DukeTogo84]

Are there any Akira Kurosawa films that we are 100% certain that Criterion doesn't hold the license to?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Are there any Akira Kurosawa films that we are 100% certain that Criterion doesn't hold the license to?

I don't think I've seen any mention of them having Rhapsody in August.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Are there any Akira Kurosawa films that we are 100% certain that Criterion doesn't hold the license to?

Lionsgate still likely has "Ran" (I don't believe it was on that list of SC licenses that Criterion obtained).

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I don't think I've seen any mention of them having Rhapsody in August.

I wonder how hard this one might be to obtain? They have a working relationship with MGM, so if there is a boxset I would hope this makes the cut.

Originally Posted by Dailyan

Lionsgate still likely has "Ran" (I don't believe it was on that list of SC licenses that Criterion obtained).

Was that the list posted by GetHarryPalmer? While I have no evidence, something tells me Criterion might have this based on showing off some art from the film and then it appearing on the Criterion Channel, (however I believe it's no longer there, but could be wrong)

I'm just wondering if a complete boxset of all the Kurosawa films is possible. I know they didn't have the Quiet Duel during the DVD set, but that could have changed.

[Reddington]

Beaver's take on The Parallax View:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film9/blu-r...ew_blu-ray.htm

Out just in time for the next Flash Sale - although I'm tempted to pick it up at release.

[CelestialAgent]

Paramount rereleases?

Originally Posted by AmishParadise

Surprised I don't have this one on DVD. Will own this on Blu-ray if these Target pre-orders are legit. Looks like Paramount will be on a roll in 2021. Love it!
___________________

Performed a search on Target's website for (Blu-ray)(2099) just now. Here's what comes up. All are pre-orders.

The Tuxedo - $12.99
The Saint - $12.99
Bad News Bears - $16.59
Star Trek Lower Deck: Season One - $29.99
Freaky - $24.99
Half Brothers - $34.99
Best Picture Essentials 10-Movie Collection - $75.99
Days of Heaven - $16.59
Vanguard - $20.99
Tupac: Resurrection - $12.99
The Last Castle - $12.99
Wrong Turn: Foundation - $17.99
La Dolce Vita - $16.99
Rosemary's Baby - $16.59
The Legend of Bagger Vance - $12.99
The Toll - $17.99
A Night at the Roxbury - $12.99
Don't Look Now - $16.59
Snake Eyes - $12.99
Get Rich or Die Tryin' - $12.99

[Rayjg]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

Paramount rereleases?

They’re all over the place with those selections. Too bad no UHD for Don’t Look Now.

[RCRochester]

That Best Picture Essentials set intrigues me. Assuming that it includes only winning films, could Ordinarily People be one of them?

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

That Best Picture Essentials set intrigues me. Assuming that it includes only winning films, could Ordinarily People be one of them?

These new Paramount sets seem to always include one film that has never been released on Blu-ray here in order to force fans to buy the set. I wouldn't be surprised if it was included.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

These new Paramount sets seem to always include one film that has never been released on Blu-ray here in order to force fans to buy the set. I wouldn't be surprised if it was included.

That was my thinking too.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t laugh.

...but that’s funny.

Oh, it's hilarious.

Not sarcasm. It wasn't a package that my wife absolutely needed quickly, so we amused ourselves by checking daily to see where the package was headed.

I've had other instances where packages would be sent in various nonsensical directions. This was just the latest (and for which I was able to grab the shipping history).

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

I wonder how hard this one [Rhapsody in August] might be to obtain? They have a working relationship with MGM, so if there is a boxset I would hope this makes the cut.

I wouldn't think it would be that hard. When Criterion did the AK 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa DVD set, it didn't include Rhapsody for whatever reason, but it did include another MGM Kurosawa title, Madadayao (but only for the set; Criterion didn't release it individually).

Was that the list posted by GetHarryPalmer? While I have no evidence, something tells me Criterion might have this [Ran] based on showing off some art from the film and then it appearing on the Criterion Channel, (however I believe it's no longer there, but could be wrong)

There's no hard and fast correspondence between what appears on The Criterion Channel and what it owns home video rights to.

Criterion had released Ran on DVD before they lost the rights to it, so they never got a chance to release it on BD. If they had regained the rights to it, and just haven't gotten around to a BD upgrade, I would expect that their DVD would be available again. But it's not, so unless a BD upgrade is planned for soon enough that they would want to release an improved DVD edition along with it, I would imagine that they haven't regained the rights to it.

I'm just wondering if a complete boxset of all the Kurosawa films is possible. I know they didn't have the Quiet Duel during the DVD set, but that could have changed.

I don't believe the (non-Criterion) DVD of The Quiet Duel is still in print, but haven't heard anything about whether someone else has the North American rights to it.

[SpaceBlackKnight]

MGM's no longer has US rights to Rhapsody in August (inherited from US distributor Orion Classics). Twilight Time allegedly had it in one of their MGM title packages, but silently canceled it's announcement when they discovered that MGM no longer had the video rights and reverted to Shochiku. Criterion has worked with Shochiku with some recent remastered titles they put out, so it would probably be in the pipeline depending on COVID.

Also, there's a rumor that Paramount's US branch has recently ceased licencing all titles due to renewed demand in putting out and remastering more of their back catalog on Blu and for 4k Digital services. They now seem prefer to release their back catalog offerings themselves, and are reissuing some titles Criterion did new transfers on for Blu. List below taken from quoted Target search listing for Paramount BDs:

Originally Posted by AmishParadise

___________________

Performed a search on Target's website for (Blu-ray)(2099) just now. Here's what comes up. All are pre-orders.

The Tuxedo - $12.99
The Saint - $12.99
Bad News Bears - $16.59
Star Trek Lower Deck: Season One - $29.99
Freaky - $24.99
Half Brothers - $34.99
Best Picture Essentials 10-Movie Collection - $75.99
Days of Heaven - $16.59
Vanguard - $20.99
Tupac: Resurrection - $12.99
The Last Castle - $12.99
Wrong Turn: Foundation - $17.99
La Dolce Vita - $16.99
Rosemary's Baby - $16.59
The Legend of Bagger Vance - $12.99
The Toll - $17.99
A Night at the Roxbury - $12.99
Don't Look Now - $16.59
Snake Eyes - $12.99
Get Rich or Die Tryin' - $12.99

Granted Criterion is also putting out a few Paramount titles in 2021, but they're ones they've had new transfers done for and were all under wraps for a while before Paramount's recent policy change.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by SpaceBlackKnight

Also, there's a rumor that Paramount's US branch has recently ceased licencing all titles due to renewed demand in putting out and remastering more of their back catalog on Blu and for 4k Digital services. They now seem prefer to release their back catalog offerings themselves, and are reissuing some titles Criterion did new transfers on for Blu. List below taken from quoted Target search listing for Paramount BDs:

As long as Paramount continues to actually release stuff themselves, I'm fine with that. Hopefully it will allow Criterion to turn their attention to using their clout to pry some Fox titles out of Disney's grip.

[mande2013]

Does this suggest Paramount-licensed Criterion titles will go out of print? I'm trying to imagine the entire Fellini set going out of print over this.