The Criterion Collection

[shimmy]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

[Show spoiler]

They all look great. The one I'm most excited for is Red Beard, but worried it might not get a release soon since it's not a 4K restoration, but 2K I believe? It's such a good movie and would love to revisit as it's been years. Same with Stray Dog.

Red Beard is long overdue for sure, Tony Stella did artwork for it ages ago.

[DimitriL]

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

Distinguished Gentleman was made on a microbudget though so it made a profit, whereas Golden Child was hugely expensive and made a loss.

Anyway if we're talking Eddie Murphy in a Criterion thread, where is Dolemite Is My Name!

The budget was 50 million, which was definitely not a microbudget in 1992 (and double to triple The Golden Child's budget, depending on which account you believe). After advertising, it probably didn't break even.

(However most of my previous figures only took into account the domestic gross, so they all did a little bit better than I stated before and that should be duly noted. But TDG really did not do the business that they were hoping based on the narrative of "Eddie's comeback" that was going around after Boomerang and the critically-acclaimed Bowfinger.)

AND YES WHERE THE H-E-DOUBLE-HOCKEY-STICKS is Dolemite Is My Name????

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by shimmy

Red Beard is long overdue for sure, Tony Stella did artwork for it ages ago.

[Show spoiler]

In case there is any confusion, this is not an official commission, or done for any planned release of Red Beard. Tony Stella occasionally makes fake covers like this, sometimes with the hope of getting Criterion to hire him to do one.

[llj]

Originally Posted by MovieBuff647

We are getting so f**king close to EYES WIDE SHUT 4K…

But will we get both the full frame and widescreen cuts?

[Cremildo]

Originally Posted by llj

But will we get both the full frame and widescreen cuts?

[darrellmaclaine]

Originally Posted by DimitriL

The budget was 50 million, which was definitely not a microbudget in 1992 (and double to triple The Golden Child's budget, depending on which account you believe). After advertising, it probably didn't break even.

My fault that - I got it mixed up with Vampire In Brooklyn. My brain remembered that he made one surprisingly low budget film in the 90s but misremembered which one it was!

[Rayjg]

Originally Posted by llj

But will we get both the full frame and widescreen cuts?

Hopefully we get the real cut before Spielberg and Cruise got their mits on it.

[Watershipdownisgood]

So far my haul from Criterion this month is as follows.

Seven Samurai bought the 4K plus Blu-Ray set of this been putting off buying this for a long while even moreso when the 4K came out last year
Devil in a Blue Dress
Menace II Society 4K plus Blu-Ray very excited to rewatch this again nice cover art too way better than the spoilerific cover of the old Blu-Ray
To Sleep With Anger
Round Midnight
Killer of Sheep
Ghost Dog Way of the Samurai
Sorcerer yes this was a pre-order but I'm considering it a part of my haul
Thelonius Monk Straight No Chaser

Not bought yet from Barnes and Noble in store
Withnail and I
Godzilla
The Long Good Friday
House I've decided to give in and finally buy this
Fifth title ??? This one's a random pick I will not reveal what it is for now as it's a surprise, but I'll let you guys know on Sunday what I decided to get for title number 5.

Barnes and Noble online
The Wages of Fear
One False Move
Girlfight
How to Get Ahead In Advertising

Going to wait till November for these ones
Three and Four Musketeers
Brazil
The Big Heat
Repo Man
Mississippi Masala
Bicycle Thieves
II Sorpasso
The Last Picture Show
Ugetsu
A Matter of Life and Death been wanting to pick this one up it looks really dang good
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp same with this one

In the future more Robert Altman like I need more of this man's movies in my collection.

With my starting points being
Short Cuts
The Player
McCabe and Mrs. Miller

[shimmy]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

In case there is any confusion, this is not an official commission, or done for any planned release of Red Beard. Tony Stella occasionally makes fake covers like this, sometimes with the hope of getting Criterion to hire him to do one.

I was not aware of that, thanks for clarifying.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

In case there is any confusion, this is not an official commission, or done for any planned release of Red Beard. Tony Stella occasionally makes fake covers like this, sometimes with the hope of getting Criterion to hire him to do one.

While I love Tony Stella, I actually like the art used by Criterion on the DVD. Hope they use that.

[jw007]

I'm a little late to the discussion but I just watched the Criterion Closet video with David Cronenberg. I was very moved by his choice of Eraserhead and how he talked about David Lynch being a friend of his. He only chose four releases but to me, less is more (Natasha Lyonne was the opposite). He showed no greed, no selfishness, and no pride. He is everything I look for in not just a filmmaker but a human being.

[llj]

Originally Posted by jw007

I'm a little late to the discussion but I just watched the Criterion Closet video with David Cronenberg. I was very moved by his choice of Eraserhead and how he talked about David Lynch being a friend of his. He only chose four releases but to me, less is more (Natasha Lyonne was the opposite). He showed no greed, no selfishness, and no pride. He is everything I look for in not just a filmmaker but a human being.

There's also the possibility that people who pick less movies already own them or better versions of them. If I were invited to the Criterion Closet, for example, I'd probably pick up a handful of ones I've never seen before. All of my faves, I already own.

[DimitriL]

Originally Posted by Rayjg

Hopefully we get the real cut before Spielberg and Cruise got their mits on it.

What does Spielberg have to do with Eyes Wide Shut?

[poisonmail]

For the 1,000th time: nothing about the cut/edit of Eyes Wide Shut was changed after it was screened for WB executives days before Kubrick died. Some aspects of the soundtrack were finalized and the digital “shadows” were added for the theatrical release due to the contractual commitment to turn in a film with an R rating. (I personally think Kubrick was planning to fight this battle later, but that’s speculation.)

[DimitriL]

Originally Posted by poisonmail

For the 1,000th time: nothing about the cut/edit of Eyes Wide Shut was changed after it was screened for WB executives days before Kubrick died. Some aspects of the soundtrack were finalized and the digital “shadows” were added for the theatrical release due to the contractual commitment to turn in a film with an R rating. (I personally think Kubrick was planning to fight this battle later, but that’s speculation.)

I agree with the speculation that Kubrick would’ve made more changes because of his awareness of the rating - he certainly wasn’t incapable of making changes to even a publicly screened cut. But you’re right, the version WB screened was HIS cut, and the reason that WB added the digital shadows was they were freaking about the reaction if they tinkered with his actual edit. The CG was a way they could say, “well, we didn’t touch how he cut the film.”

[Rayjg]

Who supervised all those little tweaks though? It’s not insignificant to alter, even slightly, a film by Stanley Kubrick. It would have to be someone on Kubrick’s level. No doubt changes would’ve been made. I assume like any director lucky enough to have final cut that Kubrick still had to deliver a film with a certain rating and within a specified running time.

[DimitriL]

Originally Posted by Rayjg

Who supervised all those little tweaks though? It’s not insignificant to alter, even slightly, a film by Stanley Kubrick. It would have to be someone on Kubrick’s level. No doubt changes would’ve been made. I assume like any director lucky enough to have final cut that Kubrick still had to deliver a film with a certain rating and within a specified running time.

According to the book on the making of the film, it was the following:

“Following Kubrick's death on March 7, 1999, a small team, composed of editor Nigel Galt, assistant editor Melanie Viner-Cuneo, director's assistant Leon Vitali, producer Jan Harlan, and Kubrick's widow Christiane Kubrick, assembled to complete Eyes Wide Shut in Kubrick's absence.”

By all accounts, Harlan and Vitali were THE people Kubrick trusted with the minutiae of his films, and they are certainly the only ones familiar enough with the details of the film to have gotten it ready for release in the scant three months between Kubrick’s death and the film’s release.

(According to Kubrick: An Odyssey, the problem with Eyes Wide Shut were not in who completed it, but with the marketing campaign. Kubrick had laid out some ideas - and apparently dropped the first teaser on his own without WB’s knowledge - Christiane had strong opinions after Kubrick’s death including wanting to take charge of the poster, and WB had their own ideas. It is unclear exactly whose approach won out.)

[Olmo]

Originally Posted by DimitriL

What does Spielberg have to do with Eyes Wide Shut?

Zip.

Possibly a conflation with AI which Kubrick decided was more suited to Spielberg's sensibilities.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by jw007

He only chose four releases but to me, less is more.

Not disputing your view of him, but one of those was a 30-disc / 39-film set, so effectively that's 33 discs / 42 movies, just sayin'.

[aladdin123]

I really hope Criterion doesn't take too long to release more Sidney Lumet films in 4K. I really want Dog Day Afternoon to come out this year, and hopefully Network doesn't take longer than next year to also be released by Criterion.