The Criterion Collection

[TFU09]

Originally Posted by joie

Blue Is the Warmest Color is an unusual release. It could be that the first release is the theatrical release, then the special edition will be a director's cut, I suppose, so fans will have to buy both. But with seamless branching, two cuts could be accomodated on a single release without requiring space for two full cuts. The initial, rushed release may be a cash grab, to capitalize on the controversy surrounding the film.

Fairly certain IFC wants this to be released around awards season despite not being eligible for the Academy Awards.

At least Criterion is good enough to warn us of an impending upgrade.

[hustlermane]

Put me in the "slightly disappointed" camp for this month. Jules and Jim (and seemingly, Truffaut more broadly) doesn't do anything for me, but damn that's a nice cover. Anderson is way overrepresented (and considering there's already a FMF blu, this is overkill probably) but there are many worse films in the collection than his. Tess is the only one I'd conceivably blind-buy if there were enough stellar reviews of the disc when it comes out. I dunno, I think there are many attractive releases between now and February (Investigation of a Citizen..., Nashville, It's a MMMM World, maybe Thief/Rififi) that I'm not that bummed about a dud month (for me). And I'm genuinely happy for those people who are excited about some of these releases, as I know that feeling when a favourite of yours is announced

And at the very least, it puts to bed those rumours of Breathless going OOP - I was close to shelling out $60-70 for the Blu over the last couple weeks, thank god I held off.

[GenPion]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

Does anyone know if there are special features on the current Fantastic Mr Fox that are not listed as being on the Criterion release?

There are... I was quite surprised when someone pointed it out -- the Criterion is missing a 40 minute long making-of that's on the normal release.

I'm thinking of swapping out one of the DVD's for the standard Blu-ray so it's together in one package.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by jcez28

Probly but it wont happen, can anyone recall that rating(NC-17) getting nominated? Shame didnt even get a nomination even though it was more of "hard" R

Midnight Cowboy was rated X, and won best picture (1969). However, it wouldn't be rated that today.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by joie

I wonder what a "New 2K digital restoration" means. Are they new scans or have they done the digital restoration on old masters made some time ago for DVD? The Hitchcock and Truffaut are "new 2K digital restorations." Are they scans of the negatives?

Pro-B wrote a thorough explanation of this at some point, and the post can probably be found on the forum somewhere with a search. It's been my experience that the 2K restorations in the Criterion queue are quite impressive, and I've never felt disappointed that an older film has received a 2K restoration as opposed to a 4K restoration. The source material calls for certain parameters when it comes to approaches for a suitable high definition presentation, I suppose.

[Brad1963]

So I would say it is safe to say The Adventures of Antoine Doinel is being upgraded to Blu ray in the future since it and The 400 Blows are on deck for repackaging like Breathless.

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Check out this new PopMatters article that I just stumbled across.

12 No-Brainer Additions to the Criterion Collection

What do you people think?

It was OK. Some good suggestions, but I hate it when someone writes an article like this and isn't aware of things like the Second Sight or forthcoming Mondo release of Possession.
It's hard to imagine Titicut ever getting a release outside of Zipporah films and The Devils and the animated films but can be crossed off as probabilities as well.
So they're batting about .500 for realistic requests.
I always liked the CriterionCast's 'for consideration' features. Don't know if they still do those, but they had some pretty interesting suggestions.

[lemonski]

Originally Posted by JoeBuck

Anyone else here really want Odd Man Out? I keep forgetting about it and remember that they've been rumored to have it for ages, but still nothing. Really hope it does surface as I think its just as good as The Third Man in terms of Carol Reed films or thrillers in general.

I do. I got sick of waiting and got the Network UK BD to tide me over.

There's a great unmined run of Carol Reed titles, maybe Criterion could do something like the Noel Coward box with them - Odd Man Out, The Fallen Idol, The Man Between, Outcast of the Islands, and The Key. They could chuck in a BD upgrade of Night Train to Munich. Sorted. Get onto it Criterion.

[BluPix]

Terrific lineup for February, including several I've been wishing for a long time Criterion would release on blu.

—Jules and Jim. This is sure to be a release-date purchase. I've been wanting to add a Criterion Blu version of it to my collection for a very long time. More Francois Truffaut is always a good thing and this is one of his essential films. (I'm still waiting for a Criterion blu-ray upgrade to The Adventures of Antoine Doinel box.)

—Blue Is the Warmest Color. One of my favorite films I've seen in theaters this year, I'm looking forward to the full special edition on blu…though I may buy this version to tide myself over, especially if the price is lower than usual.

—Foreign Correspondent. An upgrade from my current DVD. I always assumed Warner would be the studio to issue this on blu, but having it go Criterion is a nice surprise. (I guess Warner was pleased enough with Criterion's handling of its Badlands that it decided to give Criterion some more titles.) I love the cover.

—Fantastic Mr. Fox. An upgrade from my current DVD of one of my favorite films from Wes Anderson and one that I always dreamed Criterion would release. In some ways this is a surprise because, to my knowledge, it's the first animated feature Criterion has released (correct me if I'm wrong). But, on the other hand, this is maybe not so surprising because most of Anderson's filmography has been released via Criterion already. The cover is very well done.

—King of the Hill. Criterion also loves Steven Soderbergh, as do I, so I'm looking forward growing my collection of his films even more with this release, even though I haven't seen this particular film. I have already seen, however, The Underneath which was not bad. I like how Criterion sometimes gives us two features for the price of one.

—Tess. Even though I already have the BFI blu-ray of this, one of Roman Polanski's finest films, Criterion's edition will be worth the purchase for the additional supplemental features. (I do keep wishing Criterion or another deluxe label—or anyone at all—would release on blu-ray Polanski's The Tenant which is from the same era of his career.)

—Breathless. I quite enjoy this, one of Jean-Luc Godard's seminal films. However, this is the only package here that I'm unlikely to buy…because I already own Criterion's previous blu-ray release of it.

February is turning out to be a month to look forward to.

[GenPion]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

So I would say it is safe to say The Adventures of Antoine Doinel is being upgraded to Blu ray in the future since it and The 400 Blows are on deck for repackaging like Breathless.

That is quite perceptive of you. I hope you are correct. That would be amazing!

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by oildude

Midnight Cowboy was rated X, and won best picture (1969). However, it wouldn't be rated that today.

Not only wouldn't it, but it isn't. The current "R"-rated versions of both this and A Clockwork Orange are exactly the same as the original X-rated versions.

[georgec]

Well, I've got 13 titles wishlisted starting with December releases. 2014 is not going to be a kind year. Hopefully there will be a BN sale in July, and it looks like I will probably have 30+ titles to get then.

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by BluPix

—Foreign Correspondent. An upgrade from my current DVD. I always assumed Warner would be the studio to issue this on blu, but having it go Criterion is a nice surprise. (I guess Warner was pleased enough with Criterion's handling of its Badlands that it decided to give Criterion some more titles.) I love the cover.

Warner had nothing to do with this other than losing the rights.

nice thought though

[Joe Dalek]

Originally Posted by TFU09

Fairly certain IFC wants this to be released around awards season despite not being eligible for the Academy Awards.

At least Criterion is good enough to warn us of an impending upgrade.

Originally Posted by oildude

Midnight Cowboy was rated X, and won best picture (1969). However, it wouldn't be rated that today.

This isn't a dig at anyone but I can't believe we're in a film forum talking about the Oscars, an institution that's been irrelevent for...well, forever really.

There are plenty of critics circles, film festivals and smaller awards shows that will likely shower this film with accolades. At any rate, I'm sure the film's producers wanted it out in time for awards season and this was a stipulation of the license. I'm especially curious to see what Artificial Eye's edition will look like now, and if it'll be multi-region like their Kieslowskis were. But if Criterion has their usual Valentine's Day sale it may be hard to pass up at $13, even with a special edition imminent.

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

...I can't believe we're in a film forum talking about the Oscars, an institution that's been irrelevent for...well, forever really.

LOL. Yeah as far as the Best Picture, Best Foreign Language Film or Best Doc actually being the best, I'd agree. But it's far from irrelevant from the marketing perspective, which is the context under discussion.

[Ausjdm]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I like your avatar. I'm hoping to have a chance to see Under the Skin soon. The trailer for that movie is ace. Looks like a solid sci-fi/neo noir offering.

The Criterion DVD of Jules and Jim got some good rotation under my roof. I am looking forward to see what they do with this film for a high definition transfer.

Right on Owl! You the man! Finally someone gets my new avatar. Bonus pts for you, Hell yea Under the Skin looks sick. Maybe a future cult classic. Can't wait to see it next year.

Off topic but related to scifi cult classics am I the only one out there that liked Gattaca?

[joie]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Pro-B wrote a thorough explanation of this at some point, and the post can probably be found on the forum somewhere with a search. It's been my experience that the 2K restorations in the Criterion queue are quite impressive, and I've never felt disappointed that an older film has received a 2K restoration as opposed to a 4K restoration. The source material calls for certain parameters when it comes to approaches for a suitable high definition presentation, I suppose.

I think Pro-B overrates the video of old films ... . That's all I'll say.

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by joie

Blue Is the Warmest Color is an unusual release. It could be that the first release is the theatrical release, then the special edition will be a director's cut, I suppose, so fans will have to buy both. But with seamless branching, two cuts could be accomodated on a single release without requiring space for two full cuts. The initial, rushed release may be a cash grab, to capitalize on the controversy surrounding the film.

Originally Posted by TFU09

Fairly certain IFC wants this to be released around awards season despite not being eligible for the Academy Awards.

At least Criterion is good enough to warn us of an impending upgrade.

What's interesting is that we know that Criterion has The Great Beauty that has been selected as Italy's nom for the Best Foreign Language film. Will there be a similar strategy? The start of a trend unrelated to awards-season perhaps?

And Yes, I am thankful that CC warned us of a future SE.

[Snicket]

Completely forgot about announcements today, but WOW! What a stellar month!


A bit disappointed the Fox cover does not share the same art style as the other Andersons.

[Zen_Amako]

I already own the BFI release of Tess. I really like the film, and it looks great on Blu-ray.

Caught Blue is the Warmest Color in the theater. I might buy this edition since it's affordably priced. I felt the film was very good, but much longer than it needed to be - 30 mins. could easily have been removed. Not sure how often I would watch it since it is so long.