Quote:
Originally Posted by freesnake
Speaking of Spellbound, I've said this already in a Charlie Chaplin thread, and I will say it again here: I lost the enthusiasm with Criterion as a whole sometime in the half-2010s.
I only care about a few of directors that they have: Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa... And I feel like they won't ever finish what they have of them. A Kurosawa 27-film, or 20-film set isn't happening. Remaining Hitchcock and Chaplin aren't happening either. So it's over for me.
I enjoyed the Bruce Lee box a lot... I was actually surprised at the time that they did it, because those are the kind of "popular movies" not usual from Criterion... But I think that, most importantly, Criterion became overpriced. They don't include 40-page booklets anymore (at least not in the titles that I checked and interested me), but sell at a price equivalent to thick-packaged special editions, or multi-film boxsets, from other distributors. Not to mention, other boutique labels have more popular, mid-to-low quality (critics-wise) titles and aren't ashamed of them. Criterion seems too much absorbed in the somewhat-elitist aesthetics of "intellectual"/"arthouse" film and audience.
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What bothers me about the Chaplin discs is that they only include the Chaplin-approved rerelease cuts, and not the OG theatrical cuts, especially since most if not all of the OG cuts still exist and are available on tape and disc elsewhere.
It certainly moves his films way further down the shopping list for me than they'd be if they included the original cuts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dwk
I am curious about July, because Brazil is 100% something that they'd normally save for July/November release. (And Sorcerer), too, seems like a classic July/November title.) So do they have a bigger title(s) planned or are they going to shift from overloading July/November with big titles?
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This is last year's July...
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Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid 4K Blu-ray
STREET DATE: JULY 2.
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
STREET DATE: JULY 2.
Risky Business 4K Blu-ray
STREET DATE: JULY 23.
Risky Business
STREET DATE: JULY 23.
Le Samouraï 4K Blu-ray
STREET DATE: JULY 9.
Farewell My Concubine 4K Blu-ray
STREET DATE: JULY 23.
Farewell My Concubine
STREET DATE: JULY 23.
Perfect Days 4K Blu-ray
STREET DATE: JULY 16.
Perfect Days
STREET DATE: JULY 16.
Black God, White Devil
STREET DATE: JULY 16.
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...and this is last year's June...
Quote:
Blue Velvet 4K Blu-ray
STREET DATE: JUNE 25.
Bound 4K Blu-ray
STREET DATE: JUNE 18.
Bound
STREET DATE: JUNE 18.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 4K Blu-ray
STREET DATE: JUNE 4.
Querelle
STREET DATE: JUNE 11.
Victims of Sin
STREET DATE: JUNE 18.
The Underground Railroad
STREET DATE: JUNE 25.
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So June 2025's Brazil is the equivalent of June 2024's Blue Velvet: a highly awaited 4K upgrade of a beloved
Criterion Blu-ray, from an acclaimed director, that was guaranteed to sell like hotcakes.
Now we just need to figure out the equivalent of the rest of the July 2024 titles.
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid 4K and Blu-ray
Date: First Tuesday
Description: Highly acclaimed film, long mistreated on home video, never on Blu-ray or 4K before this, demanded for decades, word eventually got out that
Criterion had it, and it quickly became one of their most demanded titles ever.
Equivalent this year: Despite having a previous Blu-ray release, Eyes Wide Shut on Blu-ray and 4K makes sense, especially considering the director's cut has never been released in any form, and there is a new 4K restoration of it. (However, I have no clue what cut it is.) There are also several other picks from Scorsese, including Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, a redone 4K of Goodfellas (all it needs is proper HDR and DV, so it would cost relatively little and sell very well), or possibly The Last Temptation Of Christ.
And while this is very unlikely, another film that fits Pat Garret's description, and easily my most wanted
Criterion film ever, is the 117-minute director's cut of The Devils. I see the rumors picking back up that
Criterion has this and is just playing coy about it. I personally can't verify those rumors, as I've heard nothing to suggest that this is going on. However, I would love - love love love love love - if this turned out to be true. Bar none, it would be my favorite
Criterion release ever.
EDITED TO ADD: I just thought of another film that fits this description: Last Summer from 1969. Warner Bros. is supposedly not doing this because they can't find two minutes of the movie on any film prints, so they'd rather not do it at all. Perhaps
Criterion has it and is willing to take a step down PQ wise? Or perhaps an uncut print has been found and
Criterion has it?
Risky Business 4K and Blu-ray
Date: Fourth Tuesday
Description: Masterpiece from the era of Hollywood many of us clamor for (fall of the Code-90s), everyone who's seen it knows how good it is, but few truly grasp how great this film is. Had a good but not great Blu-ray, and many just assumed the film's home video lifespan had come to an end.
Equivalent this year: This too could be The Last Temptation Of Christ, despite the fact that a
Criterion Blu-ray already exists. However, they could throw a major curve ball and give us Dog Day Afternoon on both formats. As has been intimated further in many threads regarding A Clockwork Orange, Warner Bros. notoriously produced many 4K restorations that they in turn never released. ACO was the most notable example, as one could go to the special features and see 4K-restored clips of the film, while the actual film remained a 2K master made in an era where VHS tapes and laserdiscs still existed.
Additionally,
Criterion could give us one of Kubrick's films, since it's been years since we got anything of his. The pre-Spartacus stuff would be cool, but I think they'll wisely save them for another month. However, Lolita on both formats, Strangelove on 4K, 2001 on both formats, ACO on both formats, BL on 4K, and The Shining, FMJ, and EWS are all possible.
Perhaps another Best Picture winner, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest on both formats, could occur too. And depending on how deep into the Zaentz library they go, The Unbearable Lightness Of Being and At Play In The Fields Of The Lord could be up too. (Amadeus will come from someone in no more than five years.)
Or, for the most curviest curve ball of all, maybe they'll give us two Friedkins in two months...the theatrical cut of The Exorcist on both formats.
EDIT 2: There's actually a lot of older Warner Blus that need updating, ones that aged way worse than Risky Business. The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Bonnie And Clyde, Doctor Zhivago, Quo Vadis, An American In Paris, Meet Me In St. Louis, The Dirty Dozen, The Adventures Of Robin Hood, and Falling Down all come to mind. Even some of their stronger ones, like Casablanca (great PQ, AQ though, that's an opus), The Maltese Falcon, A Star Is Born 54, Ben-Hur, Vision Quest (has a WAC Blu-ray or DVD ever gone to
Criterion before?), and Little Shop Of Horrors, could be a candidate for a
Criterion 4K.
Le Samouraï 4K
Date: Second Tuesday
Description: Classic foreign film, French New Wave, getting the long-overdue 4K upgrade it deserved, from a crusty Blu-ray.
Equivalent this year: If they keep it within France, there's three great options from Truffaut: The 400 Blows, Jules And Jim, and Shoot The Piano Player.
If they go outside of France but keep it within Europe, Salo. (However, as said before, Ritrovata did the restoration, and reviews aren't good.)
If perhaps they leave Europe and go to Japan...oh boy, are there some good possibilities there. High And Low is already done, and all signs point to that being the next Japanese film to hit 4K through
Criterion. I also wouldn't count out Tokyo Story, which has had a 4K master for a while now.
But either way, the equivalent of Le Samouraï will be foreign, and will be a 4K.
EDIT 3: How did I forget about P&P? I Know Where I'm Going! has a 4K master prepared. That's definitely coming out one of the months this year. Hopefully Black Narcissus is next, since the Blu-ray honestly isn't that impressive. It reminds me of some of the weaker scenes (PQ wise) on The Devils, where the blacks and grays crush and the whites devolve into cream and light gray frequently.
Another candidate, though it will be controversial, would be a 4K of Querelle, which I'd support, since the Blu-ray transfer is easily 15-20 years old despite the disc dropping just last year.
Farewell My Concubine 4K and Blu-ray
Date: Fourth Tuesday
Description: One of the greatest modern Asian films, barely escaped the grips of CCP censorship, and now the uncut film is out for the world to see, primarily due to this release.
Equivalent this year: My mind is taken back to America, for a different film censored by the CCP, an American film whose sadly abridged run ended with a round of conciliatory ass-kissing on the part of several American studio executives. The film is Kundun.
Yes, Disney doesn't want to work with boutiques. Yes, Disney thinks sitting on films is a virtue. But if Andrew Stanton can get WALL-E, and if Andrew Haigh can get All Of Us Stranger, and if Guillermo del Toro can get The Shape Of Water, than Martin frickin' Scorsese can get Kundun.
Perfect Days 4K and Blu-ray
Date: Third Tuesday
Description: Modern masterpiece from an established director, a foreign film coming across the pond for the first time, and taking its place alongside some of said director's other films.
Equivalent this year: Perhaps another Wenders film, or one of Herzog's films. Fitzcarroldo, perhaps?
Black God, White Devil Blu-ray
Date: Third Tuesday
Description: A foreign film well known to those who follow cinema, but almost entirely unknown to those who only know basic films. Long mistreated on video, and restored for a recent release.
Equivalent this year: Two Jodorowsky films come to mind, El Topo and The Holy Mountain.
Anyone else care to take a shot at this? Drawing equivalent titles for the ones we had last year?
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Even if that doesn’t happen a Kino sale is just around the corner.
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