The Criterion Collection

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by mande2013

Having pre-ordered the 4K of «*Last Tango*», I still have to ask why some people get so up in arms over «*cancel culture*» when the people implicated, such as Polanski and Klaus Kinski, have in fact done reprehensible things? Sure. Some people will say if you canceled every single artist on account of their personal shortcomings you’d be left with very little art, but there’s a difference between the Polanskis of the world and people who were simply *******s like Godard and Bergman.

I think fundamentally, people are on guard against cancelling cultural figures because they feel it just becomes an obfuscatory way of justifying one’s own philistinism.

Although it might not have the appearance of being practiced much anymore, it is still possible to be against certain situations and incidents without having to outright "cancel" the perpetrators. I still read Neil Gaiman for instance and don't have any guilt for doing so.

[fdm]

Originally Posted by White Dang

Probably because we have laws that speak for themselves. But a good film is a good film, regardless of a law that a cast or crew member failed to respect. There are people on both sides of these viewpoints. A lot of film fans tend to respect film as a medium much more. Cancel culture works against this and can be freaking annoying.

The one that irritated me most was Grasshopper Films cancelling two Sion Sono films, one was already preordered!, because of "allegations". Some people don't even wait for a day in court anymore. Cancel culture needs to be cancelled. Just my opinion, don't mean to offend anyone.

Assuming Red Post On Escher Street was one of them, what was the other Sono film that was canceled?

[White Dang]

Originally Posted by fdm

Assuming Red Post On Escher Street was one of them, what was the other Sono film that was canceled?

You are correct, Red Post was up for preorder. Then if I remember correctly the other was going to be an official NA release of Whispering Star.

When I contacted Grasshopper to officially verify they said all plans cancelled, but I could still rent the film digitally off their website

[HarryAlbright89]

Originally Posted by Professor Echo

True, but I don't think my post dismissed any of them outright, it merely commented via anecdotal evidence from my own experiences during the 1970's, which is nowhere near gospel and certainly not how I meant it nor for anyone to take it that way.

Although some very famous directors who were lauded back in those days have pretty much lost their legacies, such as Claude LeLouch, I would never claim that for Bertolucci or Truffaut or Antonioni, just that their stars aren't as shiny as they once were.

To respond to the post above yours from my old buddy Cremildo regarding LAST TANGO IN PARIS, there is no revisionist history from me, it was very well regarded during its tenure and after, but recently took a hit with the behind the scenes revelations and for good reason. I personally do not find much worth in most of Bertolucci's work anymore and now watch them just to catalog how many scenes cater to his foot fetishism, ala Tarantino.

Well hopefully Film Forum's new screening of A Man and a Woman can remedy that problem and get Lelouch's work another look. Of all the films Criterion has never released that remains one of the most mystifying. In terms of crossover appeal stateside A Man and a Woman was one of the most popular French New Wave titles. You'd have figured a label that has made it's bread on highlighting the work of that time period would have gotten around to it by now. Either way, I'm more hopeful than ever that it'll find it's way in courtesy of a 4k restoration by StudioCanal.

[jshaide]

Watched my old Warner Petulia DVD tonight.

Criterion should do something cool and put that in HD instead of putting out a new edition of Night Moves.

[mande2013]

I feel like A Man and A Woman had fallen so far from critical fashion that Criterion kind of just passed on it for all these years, although the Rialto release at Film Forum suggests it’s probably now coming.

[RojD]

Having just watched 10% of my life savings vanish over the last week(!), I'm now wondering what tariffs are going to do to blu-ray and 4K disc prices. For Mexico there's no tariff if the discs are USMCA-compliant, tho compliance depends on origin and manufacturing processes. Anyone know more about this, especially as regards Criterion?

And more broadly, how will they affect other niche labels?

[DimitriL]

Originally Posted by RojD

Having just watched 10% of my life savings vanish over the last week(!), I'm now wondering what tariffs are going to do to blu-ray and 4K disc prices. For Mexico there's no tariff if the discs are USMCA-compliant, tho compliance depends on origin and manufacturing processes. Anyone know more about this, especially as regards Criterion?

And more broadly, how will they affect other niche labels?

I was just wondering about this too. This might be a circumstance where such a limited amount of disc pressing facilities can be of a benefit, at least for the titles coming out of Mexico. Austria, Germany and Polish pressings are gonna be bad news. Boutiques can’t absorb what’s coming easily.

I was thinking more about how this is going to impact sales for 4k/BD hardware that are already in a fragile state. If companies can’t make a profit on US sales or have to jack up prices - especially when people are going to start paying more for pretty much everything - it’s not inconceivable that manufacturers would just stop making them and never start up again.

[HarryAlbright89]

Originally Posted by mande2013

I feel like A Man and A Woman had fallen so far from critical fashion that Criterion kind of just passed on it for all these years, although the Rialto release at Film Forum suggests it’s probably now coming.

I wonder why it fell out of favor. By conventional romantic drama standards the film experiments quite a bit in much the same way Jules and Jim did. I guess I figured that would be a strong selling point in it's favor, alongside the Francis Lai score and great acting.

[DimitriL]

Originally Posted by HarryAlbright89

I wonder why it fell out of favor. By conventional romantic drama standards the film experiments quite a bit in much the same way Jules and Jim did. I guess I figured that would be a strong selling point in it's favor, alongside the Francis Lai score and great acting.

I think its popularity simply got locked into its time. The sequels didn’t have anywhere near the international success of the original. You would’ve thought that 20 Years Later might have been a nostalgic success, but it really wasn’t.

[eightslicesofpie]

Katya at the Closet! https://www.instagram.com/p/DIKMpnwP...k0M2JqMnl2MmM4

Can anyone tell what the white cover is?

[willtopower]

Watched Mysterious Object at Noon. From the world cinema 2.

Wow, did not expect a film akin to The Man Vanishes. Apichatpong was always so intimate and soft. Lucky to have his films. Sad some are still missing releases. Tragic.

World Cinema Projects are so important.

[Rayjg]

Originally Posted by RojD

Having just watched 10% of my life savings vanish over the last week(!), I'm now wondering what tariffs are going to do to blu-ray and 4K disc prices. For Mexico there's no tariff if the discs are USMCA-compliant, tho compliance depends on origin and manufacturing processes. Anyone know more about this, especially as regards Criterion?

And more broadly, how will they affect other niche labels?

With border crossings down the cartels could add Criterion discs to their smuggle list to make up the lost revenue. That’s assuming they charge less than the tariffs.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by eightslicesofpie

Katya at the Closet! https://www.instagram.com/p/DIKMpnwP...k0M2JqMnl2MmM4

Can anyone tell what the white cover is?

Maybe Summer with Monika

[Olmo]

Originally Posted by Professor Echo

You won't find any disagreement with me on the artistic merits of THE PASSENGER, but I don't recall it making much of a splash when released in 1975. Certainly I did not intend to give the impression that the careers or artistic achievements of the directors I mentioned had nothing more to contribute following the dates and titles I indicated, just that their "reputations" took some hits and that their legacies may not be as strong now as it once appeared they would be. With them all having passed and no more evidence added to their filmographies, it can be hard to estimate what might have been, but Truffaut's image was not as strong among cinephiles as the 70's went on. I know because I was there and found myself constantly defending him against naysayers who were giving up on him.

Tis' neither here nor there. Any passing interest in film history shows us that films are not appreciated fully until years after (Citizen Kane, Vertigo for example). Also worth noting that in this particular case there was a certain film release / cultural phenomenon with Jaws in '75, something which Mark Harris draws on in his liner notes for Criterion's Night Moves.

Audience figures, critical lauding are not commensurate with the relative qualities of a picture, it's subjective, always.

'I sometimes think that The Passenger is one of the greatest films ever made'. David Thomson.

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by Olmo

Tis' neither here nor there. Any passing interest in film history shows us that films are not appreciated fully until years after (Citizen Kane, Vertigo for example). Also worth noting that in this particular case there was a certain film release / cultural phenomenon with Jaws in '75, something which Mark Harris draws on in his liner notes for Criterion's Night Moves.

Audience figures, critical lauding are not commensurate with the relative qualities of a picture, it's subjective, always.

'I sometimes think that The Passenger is one of the greatest films ever made'. David Thomson.

All true, but my original perspective on all this had to do with the then current waning reputations of certain directors who had previously been lauded earlier in the decade of the 70's.

Certainly JAWS and all the focus on grosses by the media and subsequently the general public changed film history and was the first death knell for the "New Hollywood" movement, unless you want to count THE STING as that. STAR WARS two years later was pretty much the last nail in the coffin for the New Hollywood era, but it continued in drips after that and to this day to a degree. But the days of when a film like CHINATOWN was considered a "summer blockbuster" release were over.

[mande2013]

Well I notice with guys like Bergman, Fellini, Antonioni etc. that they can’t seem to escape being discussed with reference to their status as “zeitgeist-y cultural figures”. Even with Bresson, Ozu, and Welles people more easily “just focus on the art”.

This of course does a disservice to the main aesthetic virtues of the former group.

As has been said, ‘no longer relevant to the zeitgeist’ and ‘no longer artistically worthy’ are not the same thing.

Identification of A Woman didn’t even secure US distribution, but that shouldn’t have any bearing on our artistic appreciation of it 40+ years removed from its release.

The issue with a lot of the haloed arthouse gods, excepting Antonioni, Godard, and Resnais perhaps, is their artistic achievements weren’t “quantifiable” in that strict “Bordwellian” sense the way with Bresson one can discuss the “cinematograph”. With Bergman, Fellini, Truffaut, and even Visconti, the films’ virtues can seem more elusive and not quite so ‘tangible’. It’s either “they resonate with you or they don’t”. This I think complicates their canonization in a way it doesn’t that of Bresson, Dreyer, Welles, Ozu and so on. With Ozu, if you ‘get’ film language you’ll see why he’s a genius.

[fred25_Ca]

Received this week Eastern condors and Godzilla vs Biollante, two great editions of two great movies. Even the covers have terrific artwork. My only complaint is I was so disappointed that Criterion are still printing their essays behind frigging posters. I mentioned it in the Eastern condors thread but I just opened now Biollante and to my surprise the poster is different than the case's artwork and it is a thing of beauty. But the essay is printed behind, so I can't put it up on my walls without loosing it! It is beyond dumb and I honestly thought Criterion were done with this (My Winchester 73 had a normal booklet rather than a poster) so this kind of took me by surprise.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

Received this week Eastern condors and Godzilla vs Biollante, two great editions of two great movies. Even the covers have terrific artwork. My only complaint is I was so disappointed that Criterion are still printing their essays behind frigging posters. I mentioned it in the Eastern condors thread but I just opened now Biollante and to my surprise the poster is different than the case's artwork and it is a thing of beauty. But the essay is printed behind, so I can't put it up on my walls without loosing it! It is beyond dumb and I honestly thought Criterion were done with this (My Winchester 73 had a normal booklet rather than a poster) so this kind of took me by surprise.

Once upon a time, booklets we’re one of the things that distinguished Criterions along with commentaries. Booklets became leaflets and commentaries became scarce.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

Received this week Eastern condors and Godzilla vs Biollante, two great editions of two great movies. Even the covers have terrific artwork. My only complaint is I was so disappointed that Criterion are still printing their essays behind frigging posters. I mentioned it in the Eastern condors thread but I just opened now Biollante and to my surprise the poster is different than the case's artwork and it is a thing of beauty. But the essay is printed behind, so I can't put it up on my walls without loosing it! It is beyond dumb and I honestly thought Criterion were done with this (My Winchester 73 had a normal booklet rather than a poster) so this kind of took me by surprise.

Yeah, I hate that as well. I wish they were more along the lines of what Radiance is doing.