Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
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djproject
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1751 Post by djproject » Mon Aug 21, 2017 6:54 am

Ribs wrote:The evidence that they've not done the sequential spine thing much at all in recent memory, the last example (going off memory, forgive if wrong) being Chimes at Midnight and Immortal Story and before that State of Siege and The Confession, ...
In between that was Breaker Morant and Mister Johnson (and that was sometime after State of Siege/The Confession).

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Dead or Deader
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1752 Post by Dead or Deader » Mon Aug 21, 2017 4:07 pm

Ribs wrote:I've got a bunch of numbers swirling around my head trying to figure out any good reason for Criterion to release A Beautiful Mind
Mission to get all the best picture winners onto blu-ray! Rescue Ron Howard reputation by re-evaulting him as this generation Michael Curtiz!


(It's doubtful Criterion would ever get hold of Jurassic Park or The Big Lewbowski. Two of Universal most popular catalog tittles that also managed to include plenty of special features.What improvements could Criterion bring to those titles?)

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swo17
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1753 Post by swo17 » Mon Aug 21, 2017 4:13 pm

Passable transfers?

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Drucker
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1754 Post by Drucker » Mon Aug 21, 2017 4:14 pm

Dead or Deader wrote:
Ribs wrote:I've got a bunch of numbers swirling around my head trying to figure out any good reason for Criterion to release A Beautiful Mind
Mission to get all the best picture winners onto blu-ray! Rescue Ron Howard reputation by re-evaulting him as this generation Michael Curtiz!


(It's doubtful Criterion would ever get hold of Jurassic Park or The Big Lewbowski. Two of Universal most popular catalog tittles that also managed to include plenty of special features.What improvements could Criterion bring to those titles?)
The PQ of Lebowski is absolutely horrid with terrible DNR applied. But considering the horrid state so many Uni titles are in at the moment, with botched restorations all around, we're a long ways away from many of these titles looking better.

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Forrest Taft
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1755 Post by Forrest Taft » Mon Aug 21, 2017 4:18 pm

Dead or Deader wrote:What improvements could Criterion bring to those titles?)
:: kogonada

Arthur House
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1756 Post by Arthur House » Mon Aug 21, 2017 4:36 pm

Drucker wrote: The PQ of Lebowski is absolutely horrid with terrible DNR applied.
I'll never trust Forever Young Films again!

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1757 Post by FrauBlucher » Mon Aug 21, 2017 4:38 pm

Dead or Deader wrote:Mission to get all the best picture winners onto blu-ray
You sound like that guy on the Home Theater Forum. All he cares about is Oscar nominated films and the winners. What a horrid idea for Criterion.

John Shade
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1758 Post by John Shade » Mon Aug 21, 2017 4:39 pm

I think Criterion will eventually release Lebowski as one of those huge surprise titles with no clues. They're cozy enough with the Coens. And yes the current transfer is bad.

edit: Then again Lebowski has been re-released a few times I think. The tendency to put the same disc in a different cover, steelbook, etc--so maybe that'll continue happening.

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1759 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Mon Aug 21, 2017 5:18 pm

I have The Big Lebowski in one of those atrocious looking Universal Pop covers they were doing a year ago. I love the film and couldn't turn it down for $5 at Target. It's the exact same disc they've been repackaging for years and the transfer is an absolute turd. It's filled with digital artifacts and a lot of the special features are just press kit filler. For a film that manages to be a cult stoner classic and a beautifully structured parody of The Big Sleep, there's a lot they could add to the current edition, especially with the Coens.

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Never Cursed
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1760 Post by Never Cursed » Mon Aug 21, 2017 6:04 pm

Dead or Deader wrote:
Ribs wrote:I've got a bunch of numbers swirling around my head trying to figure out any good reason for Criterion to release A Beautiful Mind
Mission to get all the best picture winners onto blu-ray! Rescue Ron Howard reputation by re-evaulting him as this generation Michael Curtiz!
A Beautiful Mind is already on (a bad) blu-ray, which is about where it belongs. If prestige is the only thing that matters, I could think of many other movies (Quo Vadis? Heaven Can Wait?) nominated for or even winning Oscars that could use a new or better blu-ray. As to your other point, Curtiz directed a bunch of good movies (like the one I finished an hour ago,) while I'm not really a fan of anything Howard has directed.

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Brian C
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1761 Post by Brian C » Mon Aug 21, 2017 6:08 pm

Even aside from the unnecessary digital manipulation, Lebowski looks barely HD to begin with. It frankly looks like an upscaled DVD. It's probably the worst Blu I've seen, all things considered.

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bdsweeney
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1762 Post by bdsweeney » Mon Aug 21, 2017 6:59 pm

Am I the only person who read Dead or Deader's comments about best picture winners and Ron Howard as having a hint of sarcasm?

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domino harvey
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1763 Post by domino harvey » Mon Aug 21, 2017 7:10 pm

It seemed pretty clearly to be sarcasm to me

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Dead or Deader
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1764 Post by Dead or Deader » Tue Aug 22, 2017 12:25 am

bdsweeney wrote:Am I the only person who read Dead or Deader's comments about best picture winners and Ron Howard as having a hint of sarcasm?

:ding:ding:


I'll refrain back on my Lebowski comments. Looking at screenshots of the blu-ray I'm bemused at this horrendous scan of a title with the type of prestige involve. Did Roger Deakins have any working with the transfer scan? Universal should invite him into processing a another transfer of the film, particularly on 4k ultra, which would hopefully retain much of the grain without having it looking like you're watching a DVD.

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Never Cursed
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1765 Post by Never Cursed » Tue Aug 22, 2017 9:43 am

Sorry, I really misinterpreted what you said.

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Minkin
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1766 Post by Minkin » Tue Aug 22, 2017 10:13 am

New York Film Festival lineup reveals a few new things:

Janus releases:
One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (1977, Varda)
A Story from Chikamatsu (1954, Mizoguchi)

Mentioned before/elswhere - Lucía (1968, Humberto Solas) - WCP restoration (thus a future Criterion title)

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DRW.mov
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1767 Post by DRW.mov » Wed Aug 23, 2017 9:08 pm

Design studio phyxdesign posted on Instagram today images from a "Cancelled" Monterey Pop project for the Criterion Collection. I'm not sure if this means they decided to go with a different designer or if they've completely nixed the Monterey Pop re-release we've been suspecting.

https://instagram.com/p/BYH9F38FGLZ/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Minkin
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1768 Post by Minkin » Wed Aug 23, 2017 9:25 pm

I assume they ended up going with a different design. Here is the Janus tour poster:
Image


Here's a link to a high-res of the poster.

I prefer phyxdesign's poster, but I can see why it might not have worked (a tad difficult to read + oddly gives The Who top billing).

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movielocke
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1769 Post by movielocke » Wed Aug 23, 2017 11:17 pm

Ugh the phyx design is utterly grotesque.

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Cinephrenic
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1770 Post by Cinephrenic » Thu Aug 24, 2017 12:28 am

It's all 'POP' music folks...

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HitchcockLang
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1771 Post by HitchcockLang » Thu Aug 24, 2017 8:12 am

He said "unfortunately the project has been canceled." That sounds like the whole thing has been scrapped to me. I've continued to be skeptical about how valuable a new Monterey Pop release could actually be, and June would have been the ideal time to release it if it was coming. I could totally be wrong, but I have an inkling it's not coming.

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Ribs
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1772 Post by Ribs » Thu Aug 24, 2017 8:32 am

It was never planned for June - it was still touring from Janus then, and the page indicated it would release late this year. The fact there's two different concepts up there does indicate maybe he was just referring to being invited to pitch some ideas and they went in another direction, but it could also just correctly mean it was canceled.

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dwk
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1773 Post by dwk » Thu Sep 07, 2017 9:52 pm

A few days ago I noticed that the Cinema Arcana Upcoming DVD & Blu-Ray Releases of Note page (the one that had Night of the Living Dead listed a long time before it was announced as a Janus Films' title) has The Day After as an upcoming, undated Criterion release. I assume it is the TV movie and not the Hong Sangsoo film, but I could be wrong in that assumption.

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DeprongMori
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1774 Post by DeprongMori » Wed Sep 13, 2017 1:34 am

Is it time yet to unlock the "Quarantined Guess" thread? Tomorrow's the 13th. With any luck we'll get announcements before the weekend.

I believe the only unannounced releases for a newsletter clue are "The Breakfast Club" and "Tom Jones". Correct?

KJones77
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1775 Post by KJones77 » Wed Sep 13, 2017 11:36 am

DeprongMori wrote:Is it time yet to unlock the "Quarantined Guess" thread? Tomorrow's the 13th. With any luck we'll get announcements before the weekend.

I believe the only unannounced releases for a newsletter clue are "The Breakfast Club" and "Tom Jones". Correct?
The pinned post in this forum also includes Midnight Cowboy, but the clue was from 2013 and nothing yet, so who knows if that one is actually coming.

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