The Official Criterion UK Thread

[DavidGallow]

Originally Posted by rapta

I really hope Eureka still have some of those Paramount titles in the works. Let's hope Criterion don't just go around buying up every catalogue they come across, or we'll be forced to buy everything from them and the smaller labels will be forced into more obscure corners or even start to drop off. I damn well hope it never comes to that.

Yeah, but as film fans what can we do? Boycott Criterion on the off chance that Eureka might release Speedy themselves?

No-one wants Eureka or Arrow Academy to suffer but judging by the titles we are getting from Criterion...how can a film fan say "no" to buying them?

[DavidGallow]

I wonder what the spine numbering will do? Reset to 01?

Similarly spitballing - I'm wondering if there's any chance of some of the OOP films from the States being available for licence here?

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by rapta

. But did Criterion ever get Warner on their side? I'm not that well informed about Criterion's dealings (as I'm region locked, I've never bought one of their titles before).

They did yeah. Badlands was the first Warner title they acquired, with the help of Terrence Malick but things have said to become more relaxed over the past year, in which they've released Day For Night and The Emigrants. Criterion have confirmed that there are more Warner titles coming too.

[OgamiittoMcJ]

be interesting to see what price these will be
also which films already out by Criterion US they will be allowed to release
like Videodrome, Scanners
would like Repulsion, Naked and Kes, so hope they get announced

[UncleBuckWild]

Congrats all ma UK peeps!

[Buddy Ackerman]

Dare I hope for the Wes Anderson back catalogue..?

(Am also hoping for Following, Godzilla and The Game from their current catalogue. The Anderson/Nolan/Fincher titles could be an interesting contrast to Eureka and Arrow who don't concentrate on the recent past)

[Olmo]

Originally Posted by adamhopelies

They did yeah. Badlands was the first Warner title they acquired, with the help of Terrence Malick but things have said to become more relaxed over the past year, in which they've released Day For Night and The Emigrants. Criterion have confirmed that there are more Warner titles coming too.

Altman's The Player, forthcoming on Criterion (US) is a Warner title also.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by DavidGallow

Yeah, but as film fans what can we do? Boycott Criterion on the off chance that Eureka might release Speedy themselves?

No-one wants Eureka or Arrow Academy to suffer but judging by the titles we are getting from Criterion...how can a film fan say "no" to buying them?

No, because they've presumably bought out the Harold Lloyd stuff (or the ones they've released in the US anyway). I'm not saying boycott, but I am saying do remember these smaller companies with arguably a better track record and more of a diverse eye (as well as delivering better packages at lower prices).

Eureka and Arrow will not be able to even access the rights to films, that's the main worry. And if Criterion had already released a film, it would basically be futile to release their own version afterwards anyway, unless they were certain it would be a superior package that would sell well - for example, imagine Criterion had launched in the UK and released Seconds, Medium Cool and The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Do you think Eureka would release those films after the fact?

Originally Posted by adamhopelies

They did yeah. Badlands was the first Warner title they acquired, with the help of Terrence Malick but things have said to become more relaxed over the past year, in which they've released Day For Night and The Emigrants. Criterion have confirmed that there are more Warner titles coming too.

Ah yes, how could I forget? In that case, let's hope Criterion concentrate their efforts in the areas that the UK market have been sorely missing: titles/studios nobody else can get to. I'm sure that will be the case anyway in regards to already released titles - Criterion will be filling the gaps with things that haven't ever seen Blu-ray releases here before - but the worry is with new acquisitions. Eureka have already commented they couldn't get to Grey Gardens if they wanted to, and I'm sure Arrow have come across the same. Sure this could create some interesting dynamics but there are only so many films in the world.

Let's see what Criterion have to say. I'm hopeful they're not just going to bombard the collector's market over here with reissues of their US titles, and instead will choose select titles that would never see a Blu-ray release otherwise. It does worry me though - somebody over at Criterion Forum has already pointed out they have Ivan's Childhood lined up, and Artificial Eye were about to debut their own disc.

[MifuneFan]

I look at this as a mostly positive thing for the UK market. I don't think they're going to hurt smaller labels that much. I feel like Eureka are putting out a lot of titles that Criterion wouldn't touch, and vice-versa. They both are filling voids. Now there's going to be times when they want the same film, and perhaps Criterion will put it out instead, but that doesn't mean that Eureka can't get something else that CC isn't interested in.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by Buddy Ackerman

Dare I hope for the Wes Anderson back catalogue..?

(Am also hoping for Following, Godzilla and The Game from their current catalogue. The Anderson/Nolan/Fincher titles could be an interesting contrast to Eureka and Arrow who don't concentrate on the recent past)

I don't know about that: I reckon as high a percentage of MoC titles are contemporary movies as Criterion. We've got Journey To The Shore coming up and in the past twelve months we've had Listen Up Philip, Life Of Riley and The Last Of The Unjust which is a fairly decent proportion of their annual output.

[Olmo]

Ah, stop acting like a wet hen.

It's great news for someone always bemoaning the fact that they couldn't afford to import Criterion's from the US.

[crazyman]

Hopefully this doesn't mean we're going to have to pay through the nose for titles we could have got for £5.99 (with superior encoding) if Sony released them themselves.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by Olmo

Ah, stop acting like a wet hen.

It's great news for someone always bemoaning the fact that they couldn't afford to import Criterion's from the US.

I'm not moaning! (Assuming this was aimed at me!).

[DavidGallow]

Originally Posted by rapta

No, because they've presumably bought out the Harold Lloyd stuff (or the ones they've released in the US anyway). I'm not saying boycott, but I am saying do remember these smaller companies with arguably a better track record and more of a diverse eye (as well as delivering better packages at lower prices).

Eureka and Arrow will not be able to even access the rights to films, that's the main worry. And if Criterion had already released a film, it would basically be futile to release their own version afterwards anyway, unless they were certain it would be a superior package that would sell well - for example, imagine Criterion had launched in the UK and released Seconds, Medium Cool and The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Do you think Eureka would release those films after the fact?

There's literally nothing you or I can do to stop Criterion without boycotting them. Nothing. And I want their films, so I won't. I think you're overreacting. There are a MASSIVE amount of films to go around. Why don't we wait and see before the tin-hats come out? In your hypothetical - Eureka could have released other films. There was life before Medium Cool!

Only Brits would turn an exciting announcement like this into a moanfest.

[DavidGallow]

Originally Posted by Olmo

Ah, stop acting like a wet hen.

It's great news for someone always bemoaning the fact that they couldn't afford to import Criterion's from the US.

Damn right.

[Olmo]

Originally Posted by adamhopelies

I'm not moaning! (Assuming this was aimed at me!).

Nope.

Reacting to a certain individual whose initial joy and self-credit quickly turned into some sort of UK boutique label crisis of confidence meltdown in the space of about half an hour.

Bless him, he's a canny soul, but Jesus H Wept.

[rapta]

Sorry, I admit I overreacted. Was mainly fuelled by Kevin's comment on the Eureka thread that fuelled my doubt about the situation. Let's just see how this comes out.

You never know, it may equalise out between all the labels like you say. I did notice the Amazon listings currently say 'Criterion Range' which seems to indicate this is just a selection of Criterion titles released through Sony, and maybe we won't even see any titles from other studios (the ones so far are all either from Sony's back catalogue or independent libraries). I also notice one of the upcoming titles is Only Angels Have Wings, which is exactly the kind of title I would hope Criterion/Sony choose to release (i.e. titles other labels would likely never be able to).

Originally Posted by Olmo

It's great news for someone always bemoaning the fact that they couldn't afford to import Criterion's from the US.

I dunno if this is aimed at me also...if so, I wouldn't say I'm always moaning. But you're right, that is a clear positive.

Originally Posted by crazyman

Hopefully this doesn't mean we're going to have to pay through the nose for titles we could have got for £5.99 (with superior encoding) if Sony released them themselves.

Well I expect they'll be more than £5.99 now...but I hope they're not as high as £20. Somewhere in the middle should do nicely.

[David M]

Would never have expected this (well, last year anyway). Interesting times! I wonder what spurred it on.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by Lyris

Would never have expected this (well, last year anyway). Interesting times! I wonder what spurred it on.

Perhaps it was the success of things like The Apu Trilogy (no release in the UK as of yet, see an opportunity), or maybe it was just a result of their distribution situation with Sony? I reckon the continued success of Arrow contributed to their decision, especially since they themselves decided to set up across the pond.

Kevin has since expanded on his initial comments and basically sums up what I was trying to articulate myself in a much more coherent and more informed way:

It wasn't intended as *****y, and might be easy to take out out of context (as the "yes" remark was a direct reply to another comment), just me having a bit of sulk because it means things get even harder than they are already in the UK – BFI, Arrow, Artificial Eye, ourselves and others are all chasing the same products at the moment, it just means another competitor – one that has more weight to throw around than all of us – in an already very tough market.

At at the same time I'm also a huge Criterion fan and follow their announcements with as much excitement as I'm sure people follow ours. As you point out MoC probably wouldn't exist in the same way it does now without Criterion. But having been priced out of a few renewals by them recently it grates at the same time. I wish them all the best with the venture and just hope that we can all coexist in the marketplace.

[Brad1963]

Wow! This is great news.