The Criterion Collection

[Snicket]

Originally Posted by MachineGod

When exactly does Criterion announce their stuff?

It varies, usually around 4 EST.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by jayembee

They do acknowledge it. One film from Hong Kong (two, if you count the OOP Chungking Express) may not be much, but it's not nothing. And you're ignoring the one from Taiwan (Yi-Yi), the one from South Korea (Secret Sunshine), and the four from India (the three by Satyajit Ray -- with the Apu Trilogy forthcoming -- and Monsoon Wedding).

Still pretty low numbers compared to the number of Japanese releases, but i guess that is because some of the Japanese directors are the most popular or highly regarded, i mean with Just Kurosawa alone the number of releases of Japan almost matches all other Asian countries.

Hopefully we get more films of at least directors which already have releases, more Edward Yang, Lee Chang-Dong, Abbas Kiarostami, Kar Wai Wong and Satyajit Ray (specially this last one, since from the films i have seen and everything i have read he really is on the level of masters like Kurosawa and Ozu, it is a shame his releases doesn't seem to be as popular just based on the number of collections in which they are here and on Criterion page).

The addition or new directors would be nice too, like Zhangke Jia or Yimou Zhang.

Now the situation for South American films is really bad as someone mentioned before, i may be wrong but i checked and seems the only blu-ray is the recently released La Cienaga, i really don't know many directors from there, the ones that come to mind are Alejandro Jodorowsky (which i haven't seen any film by) and Eliseo Subiela (from which i can recommend an amazing movie called Hombre mirando al sudeste which i only caught because i heard was the source of the idea for the film K-Pax).

I don't doubt there are some great films from South America, the problem is they are really hard to discover and then to find copies.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by jlk5844

With the talk of The Plague Dogs, it appears it's on Amazon Prime Instant Video, so anyone with Prime can watch it for free. That's awesome considering the DVD is OOP and not cheap, and I'd like very much to watch it after I watch Watership Down, but I'm hesitant about seeing a potentially (and very likely) cut/censored version.

Thanks for this, was just reading the amazon reviews and it seems this version has been cut by 18 minutes, it probably is the version marked on imdb as released for TV, i am not sure if it will be worth to seek a complete version.

[jlk5844]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

Thanks for this, was just reading the amazon reviews and it seems this version has been cut by 18 minutes, it probably is the version marked on imdb as released for TV, i am not sure if it will be worth to seek a complete version.

That's a lot.

It certainly would be worth it to me in that case.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

Still pretty low numbers compared to the number of Japanese releases, but i guess that is because some of the Japanese directors are the most popular or highly regarded, i mean with Just Kurosawa alone the number of releases of Japan almost matches all other Asian countries.

I'm not questioning that, but it shows that they are acknowledging the existence of Asian cinema outside of Japan. And while I'm thinking of it, if you want to include the films in World Cinema Project, there's another South Korean film and a Bangladeshi film.

Look at the (Continental) European films they've released. Mostly French and Italian, not a whole lot of anything else outside of a smattering of this and that. There are over 80 films from France and Italy combined; and fewer than 20 in all other European countries combined.

Well, except Scandinavia. Aside from Bergman, there's one Sjöström and one Jan Troell from Sweden. As for other Scandinavian countries, there are four Danish films and one Norwegian. But no Icelandic films, and no Finnish -- I don't consider Le Havre a Finnish film any more than I consider The Last Emperor a Chinese film (though there are the two Kaurismäki Eclipse sets).

Now the situation for South American films is really bad as someone mentioned before, i may be wrong but i checked and seems the only blu-ray is the recently released La Cienaga

And nothing from Africa, except the Senegalese and Morrocan films in the World Cinema Project.

The point is that there will be gaps, and how much the gaps bother you depends on specific areas of interest you have. Quite frankly, I'm bothered more by the relative lack of Chinese films than South American or African, because I have a greater interest in the former than either of the latter.

Another point is that Criterion can only do so much, and no doubt the two major criteria (pun intended) for what they select are (1) can we get the rights for a reasonable price, and (2) how much work is required to make any films BD-ready? While Criterion makes an effort to bring great films from around the world to us, they never promised total coverage of every country on Earth

[Marlow27]

I just finished watching F For Fake, which I really enjoyed. Great release by Criterion, with some fantastic special features. The film is both intellectually and artistically stimulating, but I also found it really moving and at times quite beautiful, with some of Welles' reflections on art beautifully delivered.

Welles' life both fascinates and saddens me. I believe he was one of the great artistic geniuses of the 20th century, and I wish more than anything that he got to complete all the things he intended to throughout his career. I'm very, very excited for the release of Other Side of the Wind this year, but I had a question about another of his films, one he actually finished but seems to be near impossible to see these days - The Immortal Story. Does anyone know anything about it's status at the moment? Is it a rights issue, yet again? Or simply has no one gotten around to restoring it?

[JulesAndJim]

Originally Posted by Marlow27

but I had a question about another of his films, one he actually finished but seems to be near impossible to see these days - The Immortal Story. Does anyone know anything about it's status at the moment? Is it a rights issue, yet again? Or simply has no one gotten around to restoring it?

I know it's available on Hulu Plus and is going to be screened at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz in Austin later this year.

[Marlow27]

Originally Posted by JulesAndJim

I know it's available on Hulu Plus and is going to be screened at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz in Austin later this year.

Well that's a good sign at least.

Thanks for the feedback!

[Infernal King]

Originally Posted by jayembee

They do acknowledge it. One film from Hong Kong (two, if you count the OOP Chungking Express) may not be much, but it's not nothing. And you're ignoring the one from Taiwan (Yi-Yi), the one from South Korea (Secret Sunshine), and the four from India (the three by Satyajit Ray -- with the Apu Trilogy forthcoming -- and Monsoon Wedding).

I'm not ignoring them (I've brought up the lack of titles from South Korea in the past), I just didn't expect someone to take my statement literally. I think you're missing the point: the number of films from all other Asian countries combined don't even come close to equaling half of the number of films from Japan.

No way do I believe it has to do with the inability to secure distribution rights or the inability to do a proper restoration: we're talking about hundreds of thousands of films to choose from. It has to do with a lack of interest.

[bhampton]

A film student decided to change major and dumped his Criterion collection at my Newbury comics for about $4 each buy back.

I stopped in and picked up 4 but that was already $70 and more than I should have...

I noticed the Third Man had a slip ... I didn't know that one came with a slip... maybe it was the DVD I dunno... I have that one so I didn't pay so much attention.



I was tempted to get Seven Samurai but it was $30 used.

(Though the Newbury staff said many of this used were sealed)

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

I'm not ignoring them (I've brought up the lack of titles from South Korea in the past), I just didn't expect someone to take my statement literally. I think you're missing the point: the number of films from all other Asian countries combined don't even come close to equaling half of the number of films from Japan.

No way do I believe it has to do with the inability to secure distribution rights or the inability to do a proper restoration: we're talking about hundreds of thousands of films to choose from. It has to do with a lack of interest.

Not addressing your thesis (which I agree with) we should be getting Dragon Inn and (hopefully, next year) A Touch of Zen.

[Yami]

Credit to Minkin at Criterionforum for noticing that a 'Blu-Ray only' notice has snuck into the Vampyr disc features. Could well be an error though, as MoC said only last week that there wasn't an HD transfer for Vampyr good enough for Blu-Ray.

[Yami]

Originally Posted by BobbyMcGee

Agreed.

I also think that Criterion is sorely lacking in films from Latin America.

I am not sure if it is an issue of rights, but considering the amount of "New Wave" cinema from Europe, it has always surprised me that Criterion has not released any Latin American cinema from that time period that are similar in style and content.

For example, I think the films of Glauber Rocha and / or the films of Tomas Gutierrez Alea would make a great addition to the Criterion Collection. Even an Eclipse series box-set would be welcome. IMO, both director's works are very much deserving of being in the Criterion Collection.

Thankfully, a number of both director's films are available in the U.K. via Mr. Bongo in PAL Region 2 DVD, but a Criterion upgrade would be very welcome.

Indeed. It was confirmed back in 2006 (9 years ago!) that Criterion were going to release Joaquim Pedro de Andrade's Macunaíma but that truly seems to have fallen by the wayside. I'd love to see them release some Cinema Novo films.

Generally speaking, Criterion haven't got a brilliant record of releasing films from countries outside of the cinematic 'canon'. There are obviously exceptions here and there, but they could certainly have done a lot better. They're leagues behind Second Run and even Kino in this department. And while good transfers may have been an issue, Criterion are one of the few boutique labels in a position to do something about it.

Recently, there have been great restorations carried out in countries like Poland, Taiwan, the Philippines, Albania and Hungary that Criterion (and most other companies) have yet to take advantage of.

However, talking of Taiwanese restorations, it's worth pointing out that Big World Pictures are releasing Tsai Ming-liang's debut Rebels of the Neon God.

Trailer

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by Yami

Credit to Minkin at Criterionforum for noticing that a 'Blu-Ray only' notice has snuck into the Vampyr disc features. Could well be an error though, as MoC said only last week that there wasn't an HD transfer for Vampyr good enough for Blu-Ray.

That has recently been added as it wasn't there in January (the bluray bit).

AMG has Criterion got a Bluray copy :O!?

Imagine a Vampyr Upgrade today!

[Infernal King]

Originally Posted by TJS_Blu

Not addressing your thesis (which I agree with) we should be getting Dragon Inn and (hopefully, next year) A Touch of Zen.

I've never seen either of those films so thank you for bringing them to my attention! Are you referring to the 67 or 92 version of Dragon Inn? And how did you come across this information?

Originally Posted by Yami

Indeed. It was confirmed back in 2006 (9 years ago!) that Criterion were going to release Joaquim Pedro de Andrade's Macunaíma but that truly seems to have fallen by the wayside. I'd love to see them release some Cinema Novo films.

Generally speaking, Criterion haven't got a brilliant record of releasing films from countries outside of the cinematic 'canon'. There are obviously exceptions here and there, but they could certainly have done a lot better. They're leagues behind Second Run and even Kino in this department. And while good transfers may have been an issue, Criterion are one of the few boutique labels in a position to do something about it.

Recently, there have been great restorations carried out in countries like Poland, Taiwan, the Philippines, Albania and Hungary that Criterion (and most other companies) have yet to take advantage of.

However, talking of Taiwanese restorations, it's worth pointing out that Big World Pictures are releasing Tsai Ming-liang's debut Rebels of the Neon God. Trailer

Rebels of the Neon God looks really good, in more ways than one! I hope it gets picked up by some distributor for a Region A/Free Blu-ray release. I've never heard of Tsai Ming-liang but now I'm interested in checking some of his films out. Thanks for sharing!

[ShellOilJunior]

PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by Mark Le Fanu and Kim Newman, a piece by Koerber on the restoration, and a 1964 interview with producer and star Nicolas de Gunzburg; plus a book featuring Dreyer and Christen Jul’s original screenplay and Sheridan Le Fanu 1872 story “Carmilla,” a source for the film (Blu-ray only)

Something like that doesn't just get put in a description by mistake.

[Polaroid]

If we got Vampyr uprade, I hope they keep same style packaging and book, its a stunning set... but they did ditch the beautiful digipaks for so many other films in collection when upgraded....

[ShellOilJunior]

The Fisher King
The Naked Island
Vampyr
Where is the Friend's Home?
And Life Goes On
Through the Olive Trees

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

If we got Vampyr uprade, I hope they keep same style packaging and book, its a stunning set... but they did ditch the beautiful digipaks for so many other films in collection when upgraded....

From the sounds of that description this Blu-ray edition will be packaged with a proper book, ala Picnic At Hanging Rock.

[Yami]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

Rebels of the Neon God looks really good, in more ways than one! I hope it gets picked up by some distributor for a Region A/Free Blu-ray release. I've never heard of Tsai Ming-liang but now I'm interested in checking some of his films out. Thanks for sharing!

Big World are apparently going to release it themselves, so fingers crossed!

There should be a English subtitled region A set containing Rebels of the Neon God, The River and Vive l'Amour released soon in Taiwan. But importing them tends to be expensive (I still haven't got round to getting the Hou Hsiao-Hsien set with Dust in the Wind and A Time to Live, A Time to Die)