The Criterion Collection

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Someone has mentioned that Criterion's new owners aren't as invested in Japanese cinema as the those who ran it 20 years ago.

That definitely sounds like nonsense. There aren't any new owners first of all, and the president of the company, Peter Becker has been there since the early 90's, nearly 30 years now. Same for Lee Kline, Criterion's technical director, who has been there since 1993. And the CEO of the company Johnathan Turell has been there even longer, dating back to the 80's.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

That definitely sounds like nonsense. There aren't any new owners first of all, and the president of the company, Peter Becker has been there since the early 90's, nearly 30 years now. And the CEO of the company Johnathan Turell has been there even longer, dating back to the 80's.

Someone has mentioned to me a least three times in the last 5-6 years when I go on one of my rants that Criterion was once run by a husband and wife team that were heavily invested in Japanese cinema and that after the stopped running the company years ago the new management wasn't as interested in Japanese cinema. I have no idea who the user is, or how to find that those posts but they are there. I would say they even replied to me maybe once in the last 12 months with the same message if you're good at digging, but I've heard the same story a few times.

[ShellOilJunior]

Without knowing what the deal is with the Toho-to-Criterion pipeline, it's difficult to blame Criterion.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Without knowing what the deal is with the Toho-to-Criterion pipeline, it's difficult to blame Criterion.

Most of the Japanese titles that Criterion has that I want on Blu-ray are from Shochiku which seems to be a very easy to deal with company from previous comments. Same with Nikkatsu. Kadokawa/Daei seems a little more complex, but nowhere near as bad as Toho. While they do have a ton of Toho films, that also have a ton from other studios as well and smaller deals with estates like the Juzo Itami one.

[MifuneFan]

The Film Forum posted their December/January schedule (PDF), and there's a couple engagements that are coming from Janus Films. Most notable of them would be Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game (1939) from a new 4K restoration. Others of interest include the 2022 Iranian film "No Bears". They're also screening the new restoration of The Trial, though that's listed as Rialto Pictures, but I have to imagine Criterion will release this as well. They're also doing a Preston Sturges retrospective with 18 of his films including Palm Beach Story, Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve, Remember the Night, and Easy Living.

[bergman864]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

I agree and disagree. I know there was a fuss when Millers Crossing was released because that one had a perfectly good transfer already with the Fox disc which was the same one Criterion used. I personally was annoyed when almost all of the titles you mentioned were announced because most of them had good releases. Sure some were going 4K, but I do wish if Criterion is going to release titles as upgrades to 4K they also give us an extra title a month.

I personally just want more new to HD releases. Be it from black, white, hispanic, asian filmmakers. The release of February that made me go "ugh" the most was Dazed And Confused because that already has a very nice Criterion release in HD. Again if they want upgrade a title to 4K that's fine, but I do wish we got more titles a month to begin with.

However, I do agree that there are posters here who are upset about the huge uptick in films that they believe are "affirmative action" titles. That's pretty obvious. For me, if it's new to HD, that's what gets me excited. Eve's Bayou, Buck and Preacher, or ones that were in BAD shape on Blu-ray like Menace II Society. Titles that already had pretty good releases like Malcolm X, get the same ugh from me that Dazed and Confused did. I want new to HD titles and wish Criterion would focus more on those. Instead of Malcolm X, I would have killed for Get on the Bus or Da 5 Bloods.

At the end of the day, new films is what I think a lot of people are looking for. That and some more Japanese titles.

Miller's Crossing got a few mentions when it was first announced. But no one's bringing it up these days. I doubt anyone would bring it up again even if another Coen film got a re-release or 4K upgrade. And that one should've sparked more talk with its unannounced director's version on the disc.

I'm always happy to see more new to Blu discs. Criterion has unfortunately positioned themselves as the curator of "important classic and contemporary film" so all their releases will be scrutinized. But it seems like the ones that are constantly scrutinized are the ones by Black and African filmmakers.

Sorry to go on a tangent with my response but Criterion has recently released a lot more contemporary and world cinema films that never seemed to be on their radar.

[KingOfBunnies]

Ok, so I bought some stuff during the B&N sale! They're going to be Christmas gifts to me, but I nabbed em! Excited to watch them when I can!



I hope we still are allowed to post stuff like this since I haven't seen it in a few pages.

[Gacivory]

I would love some Raoul Peck films to make it into the collection!

[Nori]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

That definitely sounds like nonsense. There aren't any new owners first of all, and the president of the company, Peter Becker has been there since the early 90's, nearly 30 years now. Same for Lee Kline, Criterion's technical director, who has been there since 1993. And the CEO of the company Johnathan Turell has been there even longer, dating back to the 80's.

I had heard that the founder Robert Stein and his wife sold the company years ago. I don’t know the exact dates but was at least 5 years ago. I heard he remained on the board for Criterion but that they recently left either to retire or to do other things.

Pretty sure there’s definitely new owners regardless of who they’ve put in charge to run the company.

[Nori]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Someone has mentioned to me a least three times in the last 5-6 years when I go on one of my rants that Criterion was once run by a husband and wife team that were heavily invested in Japanese cinema and that after the stopped running the company years ago the new management wasn't as interested in Japanese cinema. I have no idea who the user is, or how to find that those posts but they are there. I would say they even replied to me maybe once in the last 12 months with the same message if you're good at digging, but I've heard the same story a few times.

I might be one of the people who have mentioned this. I think I only mentioned it once, maybe twice.

A very close friend worked with the Stein husband wife couple for years and is still good friends with them. That’s how I heard about them leaving and selling the company.

[JupiterMission]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

[Show spoiler]Over the years since affirmative action was introduced, the term has often been used in a veiled racist, and derogatory manner by ignorant, if not outright racist individuals. I also feel the term is inappropriate because affirmative action can treat something like race as a qualification, or to meet quotas, so you get what becomes a "token black person" in a job, etc...Now apply that to Criterion, and it sounds like we simply have "token black films" being included to meet a quota, rather than belonging n the collection based on quality, or merit, etc.. I personally don't believe that's happening with the titles that Criterion has been putting out. Affirmative action also has a pretty long and messy history in this country, and this really isn't the place to get into that, but suffice to say, the policy and how it may apply to the workplace, or college admissions, really don't make an appropriate parallel for what Criterion is doing here in my opinion.

As for calling it a project, are we, or did we ever call Criterion releasing more films from female directors a "project"? I personally don't recall that happening in the past, and we certainly aren't calling it a project today. You might look at it as semantics, but it comes off as belittling to me to look at Criterion addressing a significant blind-spot as merely a "project". I don't consider it a project, so much as part of a new normal. One that many on here either seem to be having a hard time adjusting to, or are merely waiting for this "project" of theirs to be over with. Again, could just be a semantics argument, but it's that sort of language, combined with saying things like affirmative action titles (which to be fair, you are simply echoing Shanghai's language) that prompted me to make note of it.

As you point out, there are certainly some positives, and new discoveries to be found from Criterion addressing this blind-spot. At most, maybe there's 1 slot out of the 5 or 6 titles a month that may be from a black filmmaker, so it's honestly hard to see that as such a downside, especially when that particular film may be just as equally deserving of a slot as the one you're clamoring for. This depends on whether you view that film as being there simply to meet a quota, or not, I guess.

The fact remains that even without putting a film from a black director in that slot, there will be something there that someone will argue is taking the spot of something they wanted instead. It's been happening every month for as long as I can remember. I'm not singling you out here, but it would be unfair to pin the blame on the sole black film in a month's slate, rather than any of the other choices that Criterion made that month. As you said, in your case, it's every film announced that isn't the one you wanted. I think it's safe to say, Duke also feels that way about every title that isn't a Japanese film every month too

My earlier responses were intentionally shortened, as I wasn't trying to rehash this debate for the millionth time, nor derail the thread further.. I do appreciate your response though, and also apologize for lumping you in too much with Shanghai.

I genuinely appreciate this as well. Thank you. Agreed on most points, but just to clarify (to you and Duke and Bergman), with "affirmative action," I didn't mean it in a totally dismissive or insulting way, although I see what you mean now. Funnily enough, I even briefly mulled it over myself and chose to re-use the phrase instead of saying "woke" or something because I thought "woke" would be the more provocative or insulting term.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Nori

I had heard that the founder Robert Stein and his wife sold the company years ago. I don’t know the exact dates but was at least 5 years ago. I heard he remained on the board for Criterion but that they recently left either to retire or to do other things.

Pretty sure there’s definitely new owners regardless of who they’ve put in charge to run the company.

Bob Stein, and his wife Aleen Stein were two of the founders of Voyager Company, and Criterion, but as far as I know they stopped having direct involvement in the 90's. Perhaps around the time Peter Becker took over. I believe Aleen (and maybe Bob) still retains her ownership stake in Criterion. If you can point me to a source that says she (and/or Bob) sold that off more recently, or anything related to there being new owners beyond the changes in the 90's I'd love to see it.

The fact remains that the people that almost certainly determine what Criterion releases, Becker, Turell, and Kline, have been there for 30+ years. Playing devil's advocate however, even if there were some new owners, it would be extremely unlikely that they would have much sway on what Criterion releases, and even more unlikely that such owner(s) would have stated that vocally.

So where did this come from? Ultimately it sounds like one big conspiracy theory by people trying to rationalize why Criterion hasn't released as many Japanese films as they have in the past. It's not that hard to understand why this is the case though, considering they've expanded their reach into world cinema beyond the major countries they featured during the DVD days. Films from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Iran, various countries in Africa, and many others. Plus they're addressing their blind-spots with female directors, and films from black directors. Plus, they're releasing more modern films, and indie films, and films from streaming services. Plus they're also releasing 4K films. Plus you have to factor whether a master is up to snuff for Blu-ray (which many Japanese films often cited are not). And these are just a few of the many factors that could go into choosing a film for one of the coveted slots during any given month. It's really not that hard to see why there isn't as big a focus on Japanese films, or even French, or Italian films for that matter.

[MifuneFan]

Here are Criterion's 2022 releases by country. I've excluded 4K upgrades of titles they released on Blu-ray. There are some where multiple countries are attached (like Jane Campion's films) so I just chose the top listed one from Criterion's site.

Angola - 1
Argentina - 1
Austria - 3
Camaroon - 1
Canada - 1
Czechoslovakia - 1
Denmark - 1
Ethiopia - 1
France - 3
Guatemala - 1
Hong Kong - 5
Hungary - 2
India - 1
Iran -1
Italy - 1
Japan: 3
New Zealand - 2
Nigeria: 1
Norway - 1
S. Korea - 1
Sweden - 3
UK - 1
United States - 30

It should be pretty clear to anyone that has followed Criterion since the DVD days, or prior that this list is much bigger than those times. From the way people discuss this, you'd get the impression that one out of every three releases Criterion put out on DVD was a Japanese film, and that's far from accurate. They were also focused on Italian, and French films as well, and just look at the numbers for those countries. Yet, are we bombarded on a nearly daily basis for people asking where are the Italian and French films? It's not like Criterion doesn't have a huge backlog of those to release either, so why have a double-standard when it comes to Japan?

As I stated, world cinema is just one of the many things Criterion has to factor when putting a movie in a slot. Would I personally like more Japanese films released? Well my name is MifuneFan, my second favorite film is Ozu's Floating Weeds, and my favorite director is Kurosawa (followed very closely by Ozu). So yeah, I would, but I also understand why that isn't happening. I also acknowledge that things come in and out of favor or style, and Japanese cinema had more than their fair share of the spotlight for world cinema, so I'm glad that we're getting to see films from many more countries now as well.

[Rayjg]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Here are Criterion's 2022 releases by country. I've excluded 4K upgrades of titles they released on Blu-ray. There are some where multiple countries are attached (like Jane Campion's films) so I just chose the top listed one from Criterion's site.

Angola - 1
Argentina - 1
Austria - 3
Camaroon - 1
Canada - 1
Czechoslovakia - 1
Denmark - 1
Ethiopia - 1
France - 3
Guatemala - 1
Hong Kong - 5
Hungary - 2
India - 1
Iran -1
Italy - 1
Japan: 3
New Zealand - 2
Nigeria: 1
Norway - 1
S. Korea - 1
Sweden - 3
UK - 1
United States - 30

It should be pretty clear to anyone that has followed Criterion since the DVD days, or prior that this list is much bigger than those times. From the way people discuss this, you'd get the impression that one out of every three releases Criterion put out on DVD was a Japanese film, and that's far from accurate. They were also focused on Italian, and French films as well, and just look at the numbers for those countries. Yet, are we bombarded on a nearly daily basis for people asking where are the Italian and French films? It's not like Criterion doesn't have a huge backlog of those to release either, so why have a double-standard when it comes to Japan?

As I stated, world cinema is just one of the many things Criterion has to factor when putting a movie in a slot. Would I personally like more Japanese films released? Well my name is MifuneFan, my second favorite film is Ozu's Floating Weeds, and my favorite director is Kurosawa (followed very closely by Ozu). So yeah, I would, but I also understand why that isn't happening. I also acknowledge that things come in and out of favor or style, and Japanese cinema had more than their fair share of the spotlight for world cinema, so I'm glad that we're getting to see films from many more countries now as well.

Yeah baby! US of A kicking all those other country's arses Hope that translate to the WC

[Nori]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Bob Stein, and his wife Aleen Stein were two of the founders of Voyager Company, and Criterion, but as far as I know they stopped having direct involvement in the 90's. Perhaps around the time Peter Becker took over. I believe Aleen (and maybe Bob) still retains her ownership stake in Criterion. If you can point me to a source that says she (and/or Bob) sold that off more recently, or anything related to there being new owners beyond the changes in the 90's I'd love to see it.

The fact remains that the people that almost certainly determine what Criterion releases, Becker, Turell, and Kline, have been there for 30+ years. Playing devil's advocate however, even if there were some new owners, it would be extremely unlikely that they would have much sway on what Criterion releases, and even more unlikely that such owner(s) would have stated that vocally.

[Show spoiler]So where did this come from? Ultimately it sounds like one big conspiracy theory by people trying to rationalize why Criterion hasn't released as many Japanese films as they have in the past. It's not that hard to understand why this is the case though, considering they've expanded their reach into world cinema beyond the major countries they featured during the DVD days. Films from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Iran, various countries in Africa, and many others. Plus they're addressing their blind-spots with female directors, and films from black directors. Plus, they're releasing more modern films, and indie films, and films from streaming services. Plus they're also releasing 4K films. Plus you have to factor whether a master is up to snuff for Blu-ray (which many Japanese films often cited are not). And these are just a few of the many factors that could go into choosing a film for one of the coveted slots during any given month. It's really not that hard to see why there isn't as big a focus on Japanese films, or even French, or Italian films for that matter.

I have no links to share as this is just information I heard from my friend. I don’t think they would put out a public press release over ownership change unless they wanted to as they are a privately owned company.

The Steins were definitely very much involved in the curation and selection process as around 10 years ago I had asked my friend to pass over some recommendations to them which she did and I even received a very nice email from Mrs Stein thanking me for the suggestion of one Japanese title in particular (it never did get a Criterion release but I guess it was something of interest to them).

My understanding is that Mrs Stein moved on to work with something related to children books and publishing, and I think her husband who was still in an advisory position has now either retired or moved on as well.

[jw007]

My god, I am loving this thread right now. Hasn't been this exciting in a while.

I remember there are days when nobody posts, or its about another boring Criterion sale.

THIS is why I'm still here, checking this thread almost daily, after 10+ years.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by Nori

The Steins were definitely very much involved in the curation and selection process as around 10 years ago I had asked my friend to pass over some recommendations to them which she did and I even received a very nice email from Mrs Stein thanking me for the suggestion of one Japanese title in particular (it never did get a Criterion release but I guess it was something of interest to them).

What Japanese title did you suggest if you don't mind me asking?

Looking their old releases on DVD out of each 100 releases or so, ten were Japanese, so that output was pretty good. Obviously their horizons have expanded since then, but I do miss that 10% of Japanese output.

[yoloswegmaster420]

Janus now has the rights to Paul Newman's Rachel, Rachel

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by yoloswegmaster420

Janus now has the rights to Paul Newman's Rachel, Rachel

That's surprising, as WAC just released it on BD in September. Wonder if it's just a theatrical thing, with no plans for a physical release from Criterion. Unless they plan to release it on 4K, which I can't see happening.

[yoloswegmaster420]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

That's surprising, as WAC just released it on BD in September. Wonder if it's just a theatrical thing, with no plans for a physical release from Criterion. Unless they plan to release it on 4K, which I can't see happening.

You're right, that is strange. It's possible that it could be an error made by the person who uploaded the information to the website.