Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1651 Post by Ribs » Mon Jul 17, 2017 5:43 pm

#900 could be anything. I just get the impression it's not a thing Criterion actively plans out so much as when determining final schedules they just pick whatever the "biggest" release is over a two-month period and arbitrarily assign it. So it could be Grand Budapest Hotel (but as we've not heard anything and Anderson's surely very busy, it probably isn't), it could be the Apartment or the Princess Bride, it could be Tree of Life, it could be the Breakfast Club. Basically any of the bigger titles that could be coming anytime soon.

Seems likely they'd anchor the October Criterion sale to the week that Barry Lyndon and Twin Peaks release...

Blublub
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1652 Post by Blublub » Mon Jul 17, 2017 6:34 pm

Ribs wrote:#900 could be...the Breakfast Club.
Talk about rubbing salt into the wound...

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Gregory
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1653 Post by Gregory » Mon Jul 17, 2017 6:52 pm

Ribs wrote:#900 could be anything. I just get the impression it's not a thing Criterion actively plans out so much as when determining final schedules they just pick whatever the "biggest" release is over a two-month period and arbitrarily assign it.
That'd mean the special edition retread of Fantastic Mr. Fox was a bigger release than the Blu-ray debut of Persona. The only pattern to the big milestone numbers I can discern is that two of them have gone to Wes Anderson, and surely it was an intentional gesture to make Citizen Kane and La Grande Illusion #1.

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HitchcockLang
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1654 Post by HitchcockLang » Mon Jul 17, 2017 6:58 pm

jedgeco wrote:
Morbii wrote:Why does IAMMMMW need another release? End of print run?
Re-issue as a non-dual format edition?
If they release as a standalone Blu-ray release in one of those nice 2 disc Scanavo cases as opposed to that abysmal packaging it has now, I may finally break down and get it despite all the signs telling me not to.

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Minkin
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1655 Post by Minkin » Mon Jul 17, 2017 7:53 pm

IAMMMMW is being released in the UK as blu-ray only, so I assume this change probably coincides with that + Dual Formats have been slowly dropping to separate editions.
====================================
So here's your speculation round-up:

The Lure - Janus tour (and all of the promotion that goes along with that)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me - April Newsletter clue + was on Itunes from Criterion / Janus' website. Despite the grumbling, Janus now owns the rights - they weren't going to pass on it.

Personal Shopper - Had no rumors or info on this one. I'm sure many have guessed it was coming, but we didn't have anything definitive.

Barry Lyndon - A Surprise! No rumors or anything for this one - just a lot of wishful hopes.

Vampyr - Typical surprise upgrade. Although back when they got rid of the large book - they mistakenly put (Blu-ray edition only) - thus we all got our hopes up, but now it finally comes out and looks like the book is back!
================================
Interesting month. Barry Lyndon is more of a November title. They could have easily done an all horror month - but usually we're lucky to even get 2 horror-y themed movies (wasn't last year only the Del Toro set / Pan?) - so at least we get three here. Am disappointed by the lack of Night of the Living Dead (we'll probably get a Janus tour soon at least) - but I kind of wonder if Romero's death didn't cause them to push it back - like they didn't want to be all "hey look, Romero died, but look what we have!" (though any reason seems to be a reason for Criterion to put something off for another month :P ). Somewhat odd to have two modern films released within a month. Also three surprises this month (that we didn't know were coming).

Of all the announcements this month, I think the addition of Filming Othello is the most exciting.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1656 Post by FrauBlucher » Mon Jul 17, 2017 7:57 pm

Minkin wrote:Barry Lyndon - A Surprise! No rumors or anything for this one - just a lot of wishful hopes.
Perhaps the candles from the Wacky Drawing were for this.

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Minkin
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1657 Post by Minkin » Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:03 pm

FrauBlucher wrote:
Minkin wrote:Barry Lyndon - A Surprise! No rumors or anything for this one - just a lot of wishful hopes.
Perhaps the candles from the Wacky Drawing were for this.
Yeah, but then why have 16 Candles? + we're getting Breakfast Club! We can just settle for the almighty double clue :P

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Ribs
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1658 Post by Ribs » Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:10 pm

Gregory wrote:
Ribs wrote:#900 could be anything. I just get the impression it's not a thing Criterion actively plans out so much as when determining final schedules they just pick whatever the "biggest" release is over a two-month period and arbitrarily assign it.
That'd mean the special edition retread of Fantastic Mr. Fox was a bigger release than the Blu-ray debut of Persona. The only pattern to the big milestone numbers I can discern is that two of them have gone to Wes Anderson, and surely it was an intentional gesture to make Citizen Kane and La Grande Illusion #1.
Yes, that's right, I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Fantastic Mr. Fox sold way more copies than Persona and was as such a bigger release for Criterion.

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Gregory
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1659 Post by Gregory » Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:27 pm

I don't know what makes you so completely certain about Criterion's sales figures in a case like this one or, more to the point, that they even tend to give such an ultimately unimportant "honor" based on the projected number of units sold (wasn't The Honeymoon Killers one of the past round-number spines?), but there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that there are way more interesting things on the forum to discuss.

Robespierre
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:31 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1660 Post by Robespierre » Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:46 pm

I am patiently awaiting:
-Gun Crazy
-Lost Highway
-Rocco and His Brothers
-Lady Eve upgrade
-La vie d'Adele special edition (though this one is admittedly a long shot)
-Le samourai upgrade
-True Lies (considering that this does't even have a standard blu ray release, licensing it out to CC is the least that Fox can do)

And Grand Budapest will be #900. It seems to me that Criterion does pay attention to spine numbers; remember how Devil's Backbone was #666? Not to mention Life Aquatic and Mr. Fox have #300 and #700, respectively. Personally IDGAF about them but I know some people are anal about spine numbers.

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miless
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1661 Post by miless » Tue Jul 18, 2017 12:03 am

I have seen True Lies probably a dozen times (mostly as a child), and I honestly had no idea, until I looked it up just now, that James Cameron directed it. This really does explain a lot.

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R0lf
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1662 Post by R0lf » Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:59 am

Robespierre wrote:And Grand Budapest will be #900. It seems to me that Criterion does pay attention to spine numbers; remember how Devil's Backbone was #666? Not to mention Life Aquatic and Mr. Fox have #300 and #700, respectively. Personally IDGAF about them but I know some people are anal about spine numbers.
+ STALKER was 888 (infinity).

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Gregory
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1663 Post by Gregory » Tue Jul 18, 2017 2:26 am

R0lf wrote:
Robespierre wrote:And Grand Budapest will be #900. It seems to me that Criterion does pay attention to spine numbers; remember how Devil's Backbone was #666? Not to mention Life Aquatic and Mr. Fox have #300 and #700, respectively. Personally IDGAF about them but I know some people are anal about spine numbers.
+ STALKER was 888 (infinity).
Obviously they assigned Riot in Cell Block 11 to #704 because 7+4= ... you guessed it.

Calvin
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:12 am

Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1664 Post by Calvin » Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:59 am

Mosfilm's restoration of Come and See has been announced for Venice Classics, so hopefully the Criterion release comes sooner rather than later. Hopefully we'll get a release for Ozu's Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice as well.

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knives
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1665 Post by knives » Tue Jul 18, 2017 11:04 am

Gregory wrote:
R0lf wrote:
Robespierre wrote:And Grand Budapest will be #900. It seems to me that Criterion does pay attention to spine numbers; remember how Devil's Backbone was #666? Not to mention Life Aquatic and Mr. Fox have #300 and #700, respectively. Personally IDGAF about them but I know some people are anal about spine numbers.
+ STALKER was 888 (infinity).
Obviously they assigned Riot in Cell Block 11 to #704 because 7+4= ... you guessed it.
Don't forget #666.

mteller
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:23 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1666 Post by mteller » Tue Jul 18, 2017 11:11 am

It would be hard to forget something mentioned five posts ago.


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mfunk9786
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1668 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jul 19, 2017 12:31 pm

Luke M wrote:Re: announcements
Hilarious.

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JayAlmighty
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1669 Post by JayAlmighty » Fri Jul 28, 2017 2:20 am

Forgive me if this has been discussed before, but I just saw a screening of The Color of Pomegranates that played with the Janus logo in front of it (accompanied with some info about the restoration.) I did some quick digging and found that the director has a phantom page...

Could this mean a criterion edition is on the way?

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Big Ben
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1670 Post by Big Ben » Fri Jul 28, 2017 2:51 am

JayAlmighty wrote:Forgive me if this has been discussed before, but I just saw a screening of The Color of Pomegranates that played with the Janus logo in front of it (accompanied with some info about the restoration.) I did some quick digging and found that the director has a phantom page...

Could this mean a criterion edition is on the way?
Yes. Most certainly. But in what format is my question. Would it be a part of the World Cinema Project?

And I'll add that I'd love to see Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors in the Collection as well. I can assure everyone here that it has some most batshit amazing cinematography ever. Is that still with Kino?

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carmilla mircalla
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1671 Post by carmilla mircalla » Fri Jul 28, 2017 2:52 am

JayAlmighty wrote:Forgive me if this has been discussed before, but I just saw a screening of The Color of Pomegranates that played with the Janus logo in front of it (accompanied with some info about the restoration.) I did some quick digging and found that the director has a phantom page...

Could this mean a criterion edition is on the way?
No, Janus slapped their logo on it without permission just so they could steal credit for the restoration and the phantom page on criterion's site is a very early 2018 april fool's joke. Code Red will be releasing color of pomegranates in November specifically on black friday morning only at Best Buy

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Minkin
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1672 Post by Minkin » Fri Jul 28, 2017 3:11 am

Moving past Carmilla's sarcasm :P

This is the first we've heard of a definite connection between Janus/Criterion and the film. I do think its rather safe at this point to assume that anything that WCP handles will make its way to Criterion - but until we have confirmation such as this - we're just making assumptions.

So please continue to post any scoops in here of any kind! Any further confirmation for titles is helpful for me & the forthcoming list -as well as perhaps start some further preliminary discussion on the film(s). Any unannounced title is fair game. Even something with a newsletter clue - like The Breakfast Club - it will be useful for us to get that extra confirmation. So everyone out there can sashay through the sarcasm and continue to post their discoveries in this thread.

You can also send me a PM at anytime and I'll add it to the forthcoming list.

For those playing at home, here is the list of un-released WCP films and their known status:

Two Monks (1934), Juan Bustillo Oro
Two Girls on the Street (1939), André de Toth
Soleil Ô [Oh, Sun!] (1969), Med Hondo
Raid into Tibet (1966)
The Night of Counting the Years (1969), Shadi Abdel Salam
Nidhanaya (1970), Lester James Peries
Memories of Underdevelopment (1968), Tomás Gutiérrez Alea ----------------------------------Confirmed Janus title
Manila in the Claws of Light (1975), Lino Brocka ----------------------------------Confirmed Janus title
Lucia (1968), Humberto Solás
Kalpana (1948), Uday Shankar
Forest of the Hanged (1964), Liviu Ciulei ---------(Film Foundation still restoring)
The Eloquent Peasant (1969), Shadi Abdel Salam
Downpour (1971), Bahram Bayzai
Color of Pomegranates (1969), Sergei Parajanov ----------------------------------Confirmed Janus title
But Film is My Mistress (2010), Stig Björkman ----------------------------------------Confirmed Criterion (Filmstruck)
Boys from Feng-kuei (1983), Hou Hsiao-hsien
Alyam, Alyam (1978), Ahmed El Maanouni
After the Curfew (1954), Usmar Ismail

Bressonaire
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1673 Post by Bressonaire » Fri Jul 28, 2017 1:10 pm

And Grand Budapest will be #900. It seems to me that Criterion does pay attention to spine numbers; remember how Devil's Backbone was #666? Not to mention Life Aquatic and Mr. Fox have #300 and #700, respectively. Personally IDGAF about them but I know some people are anal about spine numbers.
I highly doubt that Grand Budapest will be spine 900. Wes Anderson is surely working on his new animated film, Isle of Dogs, for release on March 23, and he's very hands-on with his Criterion titles, so I don't think he'll interrupt Isle of Dogs to work on The Grand Budapest Hotel. I'd expect it in the spring next year, after the release and promotion of Isle of Dogs.

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movielocke
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Re: Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1674 Post by movielocke » Fri Jul 28, 2017 3:17 pm

Bressonaire wrote:
And Grand Budapest will be #900. It seems to me that Criterion does pay attention to spine numbers; remember how Devil's Backbone was #666? Not to mention Life Aquatic and Mr. Fox have #300 and #700, respectively. Personally IDGAF about them but I know some people are anal about spine numbers.
I highly doubt that Grand Budapest will be spine 900. Wes Anderson is surely working on his new animated film, Isle of Dogs, for release on March 23, and he's very hands-on with his Criterion titles, so I don't think he'll interrupt Isle of Dogs to work on The Grand Budapest Hotel. I'd expect it in the spring next year, after the release and promotion of Isle of Dogs.
West Side Story seems like a good candidate for 900.

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Graphist
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Forthcoming: Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#1675 Post by Graphist » Fri Jul 28, 2017 6:45 pm

Big Ben wrote:
JayAlmighty wrote:Forgive me if this has been discussed before, but I just saw a screening of The Color of Pomegranates that played with the Janus logo in front of it (accompanied with some info about the restoration.) I did some quick digging and found that the director has a phantom page...

Could this mean a criterion edition is on the way?
Yes. Most certainly. But in what format is my question. Would it be a part of the World Cinema Project?

And I'll add that I'd love to see Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors in the Collection as well. I can assure everyone here that it has some most batshit amazing cinematography ever. Is that still with Kino?
It would be a dream come true to see The Color of Pomegranates finally in the collection. And if they release a box set with all his 4 feature films I will die a happy man! Image

If they release only TCOP, I just hope they don’t include it in another WCP box. The film is truly one of a kind, it is #84 on the S&S list and definitely deserves a packaging of its own. Plus there are rumors that they restored two versions of the film: the original Armenian (director’s) cut and the shorter Soviet cut, which they would include in the release. Now, wouldn't that require a separate, standalone release to issue the both cuts and some other additional extras?

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