The Criterion Collection

[mrjohnnyb]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

No. There haven't been any drawings since the artist, Jason Polan, that used to do them passed (1/17/20).

Thanks for posting. I keep forgetting Jason Polan's name.

Those were some happy times. This thread was electrified on New Year's Day with everybody and their mother trying to decipher every clue. Debates in "clue interpretation" would lead to some heated arguments. For me, these are some fond memories.

[NeoNical]

Youth of the Beast is NOT OOP for sure. Almost made me have a heart attack there. Hopefully, a Blu-ray is in the works although I can't recall a time when "Currently Unavailable" titles actually turns out to be a Blu-ray upgrade.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

Thanks for posting. I keep forgetting Jason Polan's name.

Those were some happy times. This thread was electrified on New Year's Day with everybody and their mother trying to decipher every clue. Debates in "clue interpretation" would lead to some heated arguments. For me, these are some fond memories.

I wish Criterion would find a new artist to create these annual clues again. They were such a tradition with the collectors. I too will have wonderful memories of all the people (including myself) who were trying to figure out these cryptic and quirky illustrations. There were dozens of pages on this thread devoted just to the New Year's Drawing. And these were challenging to say the least. Still amazed at all the astute and highly knowledgable film aficionados for solving the clue.

[mmarczi]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

Thanks for posting. I keep forgetting Jason Polan's name.

Those were some happy times. This thread was electrified on New Year's Day with everybody and their mother trying to decipher every clue. Debates in "clue interpretation" would lead to some heated arguments. For me, these are some fond memories.

Originally Posted by jw007

I wish Criterion would find a new artist to create these annual clues again. They were such a tradition with the collectors. I too will have wonderful memories of all the people (including myself) who were trying to figure out these cryptic and quirky illustrations. There were dozens of pages on this thread devoted just to the New Year's Drawing. And these were challenging to say the least. Still amazed at all the astute and highly knowledgable film aficionados for solving the clue.

I did ask about this a few months ago (as part of a broader e-mail) but that part got no response, unfortunately. I'll probably try asking again at some point.

[FragnitoM]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Not likely. Criterion have the blu-ray rights, so Kino are only putting out the UHD version, for which they have snagged separate rights to. Same applies for Silence of the Lambs, Great Escape, In the Heat of the Night and some other releases.

the kino UHDs are including blu-ray copies though. seems like both editions are just going to coexist

[jkoffman]

Originally Posted by FragnitoM

the kino UHDs are including blu-ray copies though. seems like both editions are just going to coexist

Incorrect. Some of the Kino UHD releases include the film on BD, but some do not. The Great Escape UHD and Some Like It Hot UHD, for example, will only have extras on the included "Special Features" BD. I've made a Feedback Forum post about how confusing these are on the site, so hopefully somebody here takes note and starts getting these corrected.

UHD with or w/o BD needs standardizing

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by FragnitoM

the kino UHDs are including blu-ray copies though. seems like both editions are just going to coexist

Aside from Silence of the Lambs, they're not. I think Kino thought they had some loophole where as long as they put the BD with the film as part of a 4K combo they could still include it. I'm pretty sure Criterion (or maybe MGM themselves) raised an issue after that release, citing the licensing terms being violated, and every release since has not included them, with the Insider reiterating that Criterion has BD rights when asked why no film on BD are being included anymore.

[FragnitoM]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Aside from Silence of the Lambs, they're not. I believe Criterion raised an issue after that release, and every release since has not included them, with the Insider stating Criterion has BD rights.

gotcha. i have silence but not the others. them listing bd50 included on this site for the other releases made me assume it was the same deal

[koberulz]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Aside from Silence of the Lambs, they're not. I think Kino thought they had some loophole where as long as they put the BD with the film as part of a 4K combo they could still include it. I'm pretty sure Criterion (or maybe MGM themselves) raised an issue after that release, citing the licensing terms being violated, and every release since has not included them, with the Insider reiterating that Criterion has BD rights when asked why no film on BD are being included anymore.

Several people raised this in the Kino thread at the time, and KLI just kept saying "we have 4K rights, they're separate, it's fine". So yeah, this seems to be what happened.

Imagine KLI arrogantly shouting down posters on here without knowing what they were talking about.

[DimitriL]

Originally Posted by jw007

I wish Criterion would find a new artist to create these annual clues again. They were such a tradition with the collectors. I too will have wonderful memories of all the people (including myself) who were trying to figure out these cryptic and quirky illustrations. There were dozens of pages on this thread devoted just to the New Year's Drawing. And these were challenging to say the least. Still amazed at all the astute and highly knowledgable film aficionados for solving the clue.

I miss them, too. It's hard, though - I mean, a lot of Criterion's staff is still not even working in the office, so I can't imagine this is a priority. And I wonder if Jason Polan was responsible not just for the art, but actually developing the clues. If he was responsible for both, then that's two skill sets you have to hire a top-level artist for. (Criterion was just one of his gigs, with drawings for the NYT, New Yorker and McSweeneys.)

But man, I do miss those days a lot. It added a fun handmade touch to the whole Criterion experience.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by jw007

I wish Criterion would find a new artist to create these annual clues again. They were such a tradition with the collectors. I too will have wonderful memories of all the people (including myself) who were trying to figure out these cryptic and quirky illustrations. There were dozens of pages on this thread devoted just to the New Year's Drawing. And these were challenging to say the least. Still amazed at all the astute and highly knowledgable film aficionados for solving the clue.

I miss those too, although I wish Criterion would have revealed what the clues actually referred to once all the titles were released or announced, because some were pretty cryptic and there were multiple titles suggested for a few of them.

Originally Posted by koberulz

Several people raised this in the Kino thread at the time, and KLI just kept saying "we have 4K rights, they're separate, it's fine". So yeah, this seems to be what happened.

Imagine KLI arrogantly shouting down posters on here without knowing what they were talking about.

Well considering that they were still allowed to release the SOTL combo packs and weren't forced to recall them and reissue them as a 4K disc only release, I kind of think that they actually did know what they were talking about in that particular instance.

[Mindfather]

What's the best place to order brand new Criterion releases?

[koberulz]

Criterion.

[DukeTogo84]

Glad people miss those hints, because they were great. It was a fun place to come here around that time.

[koberulz]

You didn't say you were after a specific title.

[DukeTogo84]

I hope we get title reveals on the 14th next Friday, and not the 17th on Monday. Will be a great way to end the week, especially if Cure is announced.

[tama]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

Well considering that they were still allowed to release the SOTL combo packs and weren't forced to recall them and reissue them as a 4K disc only release, I kind of think that they actually did know what they were talking about in that particular instance.

That has stood out to me to make me believe there was a technical loop hole Kino could continue to exploit if they wanted to. Everything about this feels to me like a gentlemans agreement between the 3 parties. Criterion didn't like the situation and MGM likely asked Kino to no longer exploit it and Kino agreed.

[MifuneFan]

Hiring a new artist may be a delicate matter for a few reasons. First, they might consider it disrespectful to Polan to have someone else replace him, especially if any replacement artist resembled his style at all. Certainly I would not expect anything similar to the types of doodles we had before, and I personally wouldn't want there to be.

Second, any such artist has to be seriously vouched for. Polan, if you think about it, was trusted with a whole slate of titles for him to draw. Imagine knowing about dozens of upcoming Criterion releases before most other people? Criterion and Polan had a great established relationship that isn't easily replaced because of that. So many artists inadvertently leak stuff on social media, so Criterion obviously has to have someone that can keep these types of things well guarded.

Polan sadly passed right around the time that covid was starting to get worse. I'm sure with the pandemic, hiring a new artist isn't exactly a priority now, and probably won't be for a while. I had reached out to Criterion the day after Polan passed, asking them to come out with some kind of retrospective tribute book, filled with his artwork for the company. They responded that they were working on a project to that effect for some time (well before he passed I'm assuming). Obviously, I have no idea if that's still the case, but knowing Criterion, I feel they would be more inclined to release that well before introducing a new artist.

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

Well considering that they were still allowed to release the SOTL combo packs and weren't forced to recall them and reissue them as a 4K disc only release, I kind of think that they actually did know what they were talking about in that particular instance.

That's most likely the result of a legal settlement of sorts.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by regeyer

That's most likely the result of a legal settlement of sorts.

That would be my guess too. Wouldn't be surprised if Criterion got some portion from SotL sales, or simply a settlement. It happens between labels from time to time.