The Criterion Collection

[Shanghai Express]

#UpgradeTroubleInParadiseChallenge

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

A meh month for me. Will be getting The Comfort of Strangers, but another month without any Japanese films.

Toni is a great announcement. Also a staple movie from the New German Cinema with Katharina Blum, though have been hoping to see a Fassbinder announced this year.

[BluProofie]

Release California Split, Written on the Wind and The Devils challenge

[Dailyan]

I'll probably nab "The Lost Honor Of Katherina Blum". I was close a few times importing the remastered StudioCanal disc.

[MifuneFan]

I am sad that another Summer month goes by with no Floating Weeds. It's a perfect Summertime movie, and the 4K restoration for it is stunning and has been ready to go for years now. Not sure what the hold up is. I guess there's still September..

[jshaide]

Will grab TONI and KATHARINA.

Just watched COMFORT on the Channel and really didn't care much for it. BLOODY HALL I don't need either--would watch if it appeared on the Channel, though.

[Cremildo]

Katharina Blum and the Schrader for me, though I might end up buying their UK counterparts depending on the price.

[jordan-r]

Katharina Blum for sure, but I'm most excited about Town Bloody Hall.

[FragnitoM]

Almost bought Katharina Blum in the last couple sales... so glad I waited!

I wasn't a fan of Comfort of Strangers on a first watch last month on the channel. Maybe the supplements or a rewatch will give me a new perspective... Its been one of the very few films in the collection I didn't like... Am I alone?

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by jshaide

Just watched COMFORT on the Channel and really didn't care much for it. BLOODY HALL I don't need either--would watch if it appeared on the Channel, though.

Originally Posted by FragnitoM

I wasn't a fan of Comfort of Strangers on a first watch last month on the channel. Maybe the supplements or a rewatch will give me a new perspective... Its been one of the very few films in the collection I didn't like... Am I alone?

I also caught Comfort of Strangers on the Criterion Channel a month or two back. It was no masterpiece but I still thought it was an interesting film, very atmospheric with a sense of dread throughout knowing that something is going to happen but you just don't know what, or what is really going on. It should be of interest to anyone who enjoys Don't Look Now.

[bsend]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Of interest to Criterion folks...

The best Japanese film of every year – from 1925 to now (BFI article)

A few thoughts...

- Everybody needs to see Yasujiro Ozu's Late Spring (1949) and Tokyo Story (1953).

- I once saw a 35mm print of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954) at a local theater. It's still one of the best films ever made.

- Harakiri (1962) is so good. It may be my favorite film on the list.

- They did not include Pale Flower (1964) on this list? For shame. It's a brilliant Japanese film noir.

- Branded to Kill (1967) is perfect. Think of what would happen if Quentin Tarantino had made a Japanese movie during the late 1960s.

- I recently bought Funeral Parade of Roses (1969) on Blu-ray, and am looking forward to immersing myself in that film.

- I love the Female Prisoner Scorpion film series. These are so sleazy, but wonderful as well.

- Battles Without Honour and Humanity... Sort of the Japanese equivalent of The Godfather movies.

- Akira (1988). Of course.

- Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) is twisted and amazing.

- Ring (1998). Of course.

- Audition (1999). Of course! When that bag moves... *shudders*

- I saw Nobody Knows (2004) at a local theater. This is a heartbreaking movie, but it's well worth seeing.

I would like to see Watched in the Attic (1976) upgraded to blu ray since the Mondo Macabro DVD is OOP.

[NeoNical]

One of my biggest dreams that probably won't come true is to see all of Duras' film in a boxset or in a two of Eclipse box sets. I really want to see more of her damn work. And there's a good amount of films available through French DVDs without Eng subs . I hope whoever owns the DVDs might give the rights to Criterion but the companies that DO own it are all small tier companies like Rene Chateau and INA. I don't even care if it's unrestored I just want to see the films with English subs for real.

[Reddington]

Nothing essential for me this month. The Comfort of Strangers and Katharina are of most interest, so maybe I'll check them out.

[NeoNical]

Originally Posted by bsend

I would like to see Watched in the Attic (1976) upgraded to blu ray since the Mondo Macabro DVD is OOP.

I don't even know how people are still reviewing this film on Letterboxd.com lol

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by NeoNical

I don't even know how people are still reviewing this film on Letterboxd.com lol

That would be a great upgrade. One of Renji's Ishabashi's best roles.

At this point I just want to see Criterion go back to releasing Japanese films on a semi normal bases. We really need a Kurosawa boxset versus something like the Varda boxset. Ugh.

[dkelly26666]

I'm definitely in for Schrader's "The Comfort of Strangers" and "The Lost Honor of Katherina Blum". And, of course, the epic Agnes Varda set.

[Dk8819]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

That would be a great upgrade. One of Renji's Ishabashi's best roles.

At this point I just want to see Criterion go back to releasing Japanese films on a semi normal bases. We really need a Kurosawa boxset versus something like the Varda boxset. Ugh.

A upgraded bluray set of Kurosawa AK100 with new restoration work would be incredible.

[Azores26]

Does anyone know why Costa-Gavras' "Z" still hasn't been released by Criterion - or, for that matter, by any label in the world - on blu-ray?

[Al3xanderdelag]

Originally Posted by Azores26

Does anyone know why Costa-Gavras' "Z" still hasn't been released by Criterion - or, for that matter, by any label in the world - on blu-ray?

Studiocanal

[NeoNical]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

That would be a great upgrade. One of Renji's Ishabashi's best roles.

At this point I just want to see Criterion go back to releasing Japanese films on a semi normal bases. We really need a Kurosawa boxset versus something like the Varda boxset. Ugh.

It can be debated that this film should be on Criterion Collection because it is a roman porno and while there are films that Criterion released that are borderline pornography, "The Watcher in the Attic" is probably one of the more "questionable" movies (5.9 IMDB, 3.3 Letterboxd) and I think Noboru Tanaka's films should be handed over to Arrow Video since they're pretty comfortable with this type of content (They do cult films so ofc they wouldn't mind duh). Criterion always prefers releasing arthouse or influential works normally so it would be out of nowhere and I'm sure you can't make much out of these films for a Criterion release even as an Eclipse box set and especially independent. But then once again, who knows? I haven't seen any Tanaka films but I'm 100% sure they're mostly roman pornos since the DVDs themselves either include pornographic images in front or literally has the label, "NIKKATSU EROTIC CINEMA" on front. I would be shocked if they do release because I think that the Nikkatsu Pink films aren't that big nowadays but there still is a decent amount of people who wouldn't mind watching them for the entertainment value I guess.

In the end, not going to Criterion most likely but instead to Third Window Films or Arrow Video. It doesn't really fit in the Criterion Collection but then again, so is 60% of the releases for the past 2-3 years.
It also would be a pretty controversial release IMO.
(Can't judge a film if I didn't watch it so that's that )


I guess they should start releasing Japanese films again also. And there's also a decent amount of films that need Blu-ray upgrades like Onibaba, any Suzuki film (Funny thing Gate of Flesh and Story of a Prostitute has a few pink film elements in it), The Pornographers (Haven't seen this one yet), Pigs , Pimps, & Prostitutes, Samurai Box Set (Samurai Rebellion and Sword of the Beast box set. Not the Mifune Trilogy), and of course the Teshigahara release for the other two. I think that in the end, most of these movies are ones that some wouldn't care for like Story of a Prostitute, the Pornographers, and perhaps Pigs, Pimps, & Prostitutes even though that's a very well known trilogy. A restoration for these movies are probably not worth it since they paid a lot to make them but they receive less money than they used money to make it. So because of that, Criterion might be a little scared to pull the trigger on these films. But then again, Criterion is always holding back good movies for no reason like Floating Weeds.

For Kurosawa, I think that we just need an individual Blu-ray release for his unreleased films like, "Madadayo" and I'm set. I'm not really hyped for another Kurosawa box set despite me being a big Japanese film fan. And the other thing is that I feel like if you release certain films individually, they do better than releasing films on a box set. Since the box sets are so expensive, not much are going to buy the box set right away. Probably during a sale or so that there will be a good amount of people who would go for it. And sometimes they do work a little too hard with their box sets. The Bergman boxset is wonderful and all that but it's too damn heavy and it also takes a lot of space.

Once again, any Japanese film release is welcome at this time but I don't think any Tanaka films will be up Criterion's alley nor is Duras or any other small and underground directors that only a small but special group of people will enjoy. If the film can attract 60% or more of the general public (Meaning literally everyone. Film fan or not), Criterion will pull the trigger or perhaps make it an ultimate release.