The Criterion Collection

[geekjosh]

Diabolik just shipped out my copy of Godzilla vs Biolante (plus my special order of Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2) so it should be here in just a couple days.

Looking forward to seeing how it turned out.

[albabe]

Originally Posted by albabe

So.... Just curious if there is anyone around who knows the actual "Rules" for when the Criterion 50%-Off Sale is? It's February or March, right? Anyone?

No one knows?

[Maxflier]

What do you mean rules? It happens when it they decide it happens. Should be a Tuesday this month as it has historically been Feb or March.

[Scottie]

Julia Fox’s Closet Picks - YouTube

[WillieMLF]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

I'm in the process of planning my own will now (too many shitty people in the family for me to just put it off), and I'm wondering what to do with my collection. The people I'd leave it to likely don't want it. The archives would want some but not all of it. The studios could use a lot of it, but they'd likely just sit on it.

And the people who'd want my stuff most of all, my family, either would want to throw it away so I wouldn't have it in life, (ie, less time with my movies = more time with them, or so they think), throw it away when I'm dead because they think it's worthless, or sell it so they could make a quick buck if someone who knew what it was worth got involved.

So...I want my stuff to go to the right people or entity when I'm gone. The final tally will be somewhere in the range of 40-50 thousand items, comprising a history of film, television, news, history, and the world as a whole. I don't want that to wind up in a landfill or on someone's eBay page when I'm dead. I want that stuff to be around for decades if not centuries after I am.

I've already made the preparations regarding the Criterions going to the county library system. I have not even gone through the duplicates, but it's practically the complete collection minus the most recent stuff (post 2023). Plenty of DVDs and a good bit of LD. I'm not entirely sure they are going to want the LD. The rest of the collection will just go to ungrateful family. The logistics of moving the beast of a collection should be punishment enough. Back in the VHS days there was a nonprofit that rented out one of the largest collections of 'arthouse' films. Once it closed they wanted to sell the collection as a whole, but it was difficult to find a buyer. Rather than break it up, they eventually donated it to several of the local Universities.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Scottie

Julia Fox’s Closet Picks - YouTube

Is this the first time that someone picked out Tiny Furniture from the closet?

[Gacivory]

Nova Media but up Edward Yang’s A Confucian Confusion up for preorder. It just leaves Mahjong to get a Blu. Maybe Criterion will announce some more Yang films this month! Either way I preordered!

[SpookyDollhouse]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Is this the first time that someone picked out Tiny Furniture from the closet?

Agnes Varda picked it too but said she hadn't seen it yet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7Jx0Pjq_kQ

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by SpookyDollhouse

Agnes Varda picked it too but said she hadn't seen it yet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7Jx0Pjq_kQ

Never knew Varda visited the Closet. I need to catch up on my Criterion Closet videos.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by SpookyDollhouse

Agnes Varda picked it too but said she hadn't seen it yet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7Jx0Pjq_kQ

Here are a couple others that also picked it:

Desiree Akhavan’s Closet Picks - YouTube

Jeremy O. Harris’s Closet Picks - YouTube

[MifuneFan]

Lincoln Center are having a Kira Muratova Retrospective from May 16th to the 25th, co-presented by Janus Films. We already have Brief Encounters and The Long Farewell from Muratova, but it looks like there may be others coming.

May 16–25
Kira Muratova: A Retrospective

Now widely considered the greatest Ukrainian filmmaker of the last half century—and arguably one of the most influential women directors in cinematic history—Kira Muratova (1934–2018) remained largely unknown to American audiences during her lifetime, and has only recently come into widespread international acclaim. Having embarked upon her solo filmmaking career on the cusp of the Khrushchev Thaw, Muratova was banned from filming for almost 15 years after her two early masterpieces, Brief Encounters (1967) and Long Farewell (1971), were condemned as un-Soviet and “bourgeois” by official censors, and fully returned to filmmaking only in the late 1980s, under Perestroika. The Asthenic Syndrome (1989) witnessed the collapse of the totalitarianism and moral decay that characterized Soviet society, and brought the director newfound critical recognition; yet Muratova’s genius would fully come into focus only in the context of an independent Ukraine, where she enjoyed greater creative freedom and acknowledgment. Her most significant source of inspiration during this period was the city of Odessa, a once majestic metropolis rapidly fading into a neglected province. Deeply fascinated by eccentric characters and linguistic deviations, Muratova honed a distinctive style characterized by surreal and unexpected repetitions, refracting the experience of an unstable reality by way of outré storytelling devices. Caustic and misanthropic in life, Muratova nevertheless was touchingly humanistic in her films, radiating childish wonder, defiant hope, and sparkling irony. Film at Lincoln Center is proud to present the first North American retrospective of Muratova’s extraordinary body of work, featuring a robust selection of her greatest directorial achievements, both widely celebrated and historically overlooked, as well as several films in which the director herself starred in front of the camera.

Co-organized by Marta Kuzma, Professor of Art at Yale University, film scholar Ivan Kozlenko, and Madeline Whittle, in cooperation with The Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre, Kyiv. The retrospective is a part of Faktura 10, a program of RIBBON International. Co-presented with Janus Films.

[jordan-r]

Exciting news re: Muratova. I'm intrigued to see Chekhovian Motifs and The Asthenic Syndrome after reading Jonathan Rosenbaum's writing about them recently.

[eightslicesofpie]

It's pretty much a guarantee that Flow is a June title, right?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by eightslicesofpie

It's pretty much a guarantee that Flow is a June title, right?

If they're producing more extras it might take longer. I could also see them saving it for their biggest months July/November. Also have to keep in mind that it hasn't been released on the Criterion Channel yet either. Usually it's added there first a few months before a physical release. This isn't a typical release for them though, so things could very well be different here.

[albabe]

Originally Posted by Maxflier

What do you mean rules? It happens when it they decide it happens. Should be a Tuesday this month as it has historically been Feb or March.

Thanx

"Rules" as in... which month and which day. Usually in March and usually on a Tuesday - I didn't know these variables.

And there's another one at the end of the year, right?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by albabe

Thanx

"Rules" as in... which month and which day. Usually in March and usually on a Tuesday - I didn't know these variables.

And there's another one at the end of the year, right?

Yeah, historically in October.

2019: 10/15
2020: 10/20
2021: 10/19
2022: 10/11
2023: 10/17
2024: 10/22

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

If they're producing more extras it might take longer. I could also see them saving it for their biggest months July/November. Also have to keep in mind that it hasn't been released on the Criterion Channel yet either. Usually it's added there first a few months before a physical release. This isn't a typical release for them though, so things could very well be different here.

It is strange it is not on Criterion Channel yet when it has been on Max for a few weeks already.

[dwk]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

It is strange it is not on Criterion Channel yet when it has been on Max for a few weeks already.

I think, like Drive My Car, WBD licensed an exclusive streaming rights period from Janus/Sideshow.

[filmfreak24]

There are usually 50% off sales four times a year around the following times for all Criterion and Janus Contemporaries titles:

February or March (1 day only) - Criterion website only (no preorders)

July (all month) - B&N website/stores only (including preorders)

October (1 day only) - Criterion website only (no preorders)

November (all month) - B&N website/stores only (including preorders)

[DukeTogo84]

So we should be getting title reveals this Friday possibly? Worst case Monday. I think they usually save their sets for July? Just curious if we might finally get the Kenji Misumi Sword trilogy. If not, hopefully another new to HD Japanese title. The Bad Sleep Well or Stray Dog would be amazing or just something from Toho.

I'm guessing for sure one of the titles will be one of the Kino MGM titles, but lets hope for some more new to HD stuff.