Criterion and IFC

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
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Perkins Cobb
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:49 pm

Re: Criterion/IFC

#26 Post by Perkins Cobb » Sat Aug 15, 2009 4:29 am

Does IFC definitely have the North American rights to Go Go Tales? Last I heard there were problems with the Italian financiers that complicated the US distribution of both that and Mary.

It's a Free World, The Last Mistress, Rivette's The Duchess of Langeais, and Abdellatif Kechiche's The Secret of the Grain (one of my favorite 2008 releases) are also Blockbuster rental exclusives, and have been for some months now. I've seen the DVDs of the last three, and they have perfectly acceptable anamorphic transfers. If Criterion is planning to become a de facto distributor for IFC, then I'd speculate they might consider these transfers ready to go.

I'll bet the BB exclusive deal might be the key to this. Just yesterday, after Blockbuster announced yet another dismal earnings report, I was thinking IFC must be pretty desperate to get off that sinking ship. No matter how much cash BB forked over at the outset to secure exclusivity, it must have occurred to IFC by now that it's untenable to have some of their most acclaimed properties tied up in such a backward home video deal.

Plus, adding insult to injury, Blockbuster no longer has a dedicated exclusives page on its rental site. So, to find these DVDs, I've had to check basically every recent IFC or Weinstein release on the BB website to see which ones are available. They don't even bother to send review copies to DVDTalk or the Beav. I can't imagine that was the kind of treatment IFC thought they'd be getting.

ianungstad
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 9:20 pm

Re: Criterion/IFC

#27 Post by ianungstad » Sat Aug 15, 2009 10:15 am

brendanjc wrote: People afraid the Swanberg top 10 meant something of his was in the pipeline should take note that IFC distributes Hannah Takes The Stairs, but the current release has a commentary so maybe there's no incentive to re-release it.
If Criterion releases a Swanberg it will be Alexander the Last. I don't think many people here want Swanberg in the collection (I don't) but I think chances are high that it will happen. Swanberg did his Top 10 for the newsletter recently. Someone at Criterion Towers is paying him attention....

James Franco also did a top 10 for the newsletter recently. Surprise! Guess who also has a film he directed recently tied up at IFC waiting for a proper dvd release? Franco's film Good Time Max has had a blockbuster exclusive release but has yet to have a proper dvd/blu.

Normally I don't think the selection of which industry insider contributes a top 10 for the newsletter means much...but in this case, I definitly think it's a tease to future IFC releases. I don't think I'll ever care much for Mumblecore and the trailer for Franco's film looks average at best. I haven't seen either and if anyone here has seen them, feel free to add some comments or opinions!

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Tommaso
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am

Re: Criterion/IFC

#28 Post by Tommaso » Sat Aug 15, 2009 11:13 am

Looking at that list, the only film apart from "Antichrist" that would be a real coup is "Drawing Restraint 9". Now they better spend their time talking Barney into it instead of licensing more stuff like this month's releases.

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foggy eyes
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 9:58 am
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Re: Criterion/IFC

#29 Post by foggy eyes » Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:30 pm

ianungstad wrote:If Criterion releases a Swanberg it will be Alexander the Last. I don't think many people here want Swanberg in the collection (I don't) but I think chances are high that it will happen. Swanberg did his Top 10 for the newsletter recently. Someone at Criterion Towers is paying him attention....
Agreed. Also: Still Walking, people. It's perfect Criterion material, despite not having a particuarly high profile yet - a superb contemporary family/home drama (cf. A Christmas Tale), and quite possibly the next best thing to Ozu we've got at the moment...

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Criterion/IFC

#30 Post by knives » Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:57 pm

bdsweeney wrote: Me and You and Everyone We Know.
Don't speak its name. That would be even worse, somehow, then Swanberg. Since IFC has an other plan going maybe only the prestige pictures will go to Criterion, which seems to be the MO for now, and the goof ball stuff goes to that other company. Either that or we'll be getting zombie nazis in the collection soon.

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justeleblanc
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:05 pm
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Re: Criterion/IFC

#31 Post by justeleblanc » Sat Aug 15, 2009 8:13 pm

I don't think we'll see Criterion release an IFC title that already has a USA DVD release, save for the exclusive DVDs made for only Blockbuster (such as Che). I also don't think any of the IFC films that are owned by Genius will make it to Criterion either. Che, Gomorrah, and A Christmas Tale were all released by IFC after their deal with Genius ended.

We might also see Garrel's Frontier of Dawn or Honore's The Beautiful Person.

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domino harvey
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Re: Criterion/IFC

#32 Post by domino harvey » Sat Aug 15, 2009 8:17 pm

Don't make my dream of a Criterion edition of the Baxter die before it can even be born

Perkins Cobb
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:49 pm

Re: Criterion/IFC

#33 Post by Perkins Cobb » Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:09 pm

domino harvey wrote:Don't make my dream of a Criterion edition of the Baxter die before it can even be born
Can the term "jump the shark" be applied to a DVD label?

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domino harvey
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Re: Criterion/IFC

#34 Post by domino harvey » Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:14 pm

How colorful

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reassurance
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Re: Criterion/IFC

#35 Post by reassurance » Sun Aug 16, 2009 12:25 am

Perkins Cobb wrote:Does IFC definitely have the North American rights to Go Go Tales? Last I heard there were problems with the Italian financiers that complicated the US distribution of both that and Mary.
I think you're right -- IFC never officially released either of those Ferrara films, sadly as I think they rank among his best.

And, a Joe Swanberg Criterion release would send me to anger management classes. Daily. (That can also be applied to Me And You And Everyone We Know).

Though I haven't seen it yet, Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank wouldn't upset me if it received a Criterion treatment.

Here's a pretty substantial list of IFC Films that have yet to receive a DVD release (the list includes titles that came out at Blockbuster, but not elsewhere).

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Murdoch
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
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Re: Criterion/IFC

#36 Post by Murdoch » Sun Aug 16, 2009 12:34 am

reassurance wrote:Here's a pretty substantial list of IFC Films that have yet to receive a DVD release (the list includes titles that came out at Blockbuster, but not elsewhere).
Oh lord, please release the Hong Sang-soo film, and some Moodysson and Brisseau in the collection would be welcome. But I have a feeling CC won't touch the Rivette, it just would be so... unnatural.

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Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
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Re: Criterion/IFC

#37 Post by Jeff » Sun Aug 16, 2009 12:39 am

Murdoch wrote:I have a feeling CC won't touch the Rivette
Ne touchez pas la Rivette, a film by Peter Becker

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reassurance
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Re: Criterion/IFC

#38 Post by reassurance » Sun Aug 16, 2009 12:40 am

If there's going to release any Moodysson... I'd rather it not be Mammoth.

ianungstad
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Re: Criterion/IFC

#39 Post by ianungstad » Sun Aug 16, 2009 12:57 am

Just watched the trailer for Drawing Restraint. Looks incredibly bizarre. I actually wouldn't mind checking the film out, Criterion or otherwise. Sadly, looks like this one didn't even get a Blockbuster disc. :(

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reassurance
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Re: Criterion/IFC

#40 Post by reassurance » Sun Aug 16, 2009 5:03 am

I'm pretty sure that Matthew Barney refuses to have his films released on DVD. The Cremaster Cycle never surfaced, and I don't expect Drawing Restraint 9 to either.

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foggy eyes
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Re: Criterion/IFC

#41 Post by foggy eyes » Sun Aug 16, 2009 5:36 am

justeleblanc wrote:We might also see Garrel's Frontier of Dawn
I'd like nothing more than this, but can't imagine it'll happen - Garrel is even less likely than Rivette to be inducted into the Criterion canon, and Frontier didn't exactly get the warmest reaction from the majority of critics...
I'm pretty sure that Matthew Barney refuses to have his films released on DVD. The Cremaster Cycle never surfaced, and I don't expect Drawing Restraint 9 to either.
I'm pretty sure they were released - I've seen copies knocking about in gallery/specialist bookshops.

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RodneyOz
Joined: Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:54 am

Re: Criterion/IFC

#42 Post by RodneyOz » Sun Aug 16, 2009 5:56 am

There's at least one Barney...

http://www.accentfilm.com/product.cfm?i ... t=NA%3D%3D" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Tommaso
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am

Re: Criterion/IFC

#43 Post by Tommaso » Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:05 am

Yeah, that's an excerpt from "Cremaster 3" (30 mins.) that Barney for once agreed to release to a wider audience, and it's pretty much a knock-out film. There are divX copies of the "Cremaster" cycle and "Drawing Restraint" floating around, of course, but you can bet that these were made by some projectionist and not from commercially - even in small quantities - available discs. Barney finances his films by expressly saying they are artworks; so there are some rich art collectors who give him money and who then receive their own personalized dvd of these films, I suppose.

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miless
Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 9:45 pm

Re: Criterion/IFC

#44 Post by miless » Sun Aug 16, 2009 4:12 pm

The problems around The Cremaster Cycle are those of 'rights'. A small number of people have purchased LaserDiscs of the series for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they didn't want their art to depreciate in value. A boxed set was in the works years ago with Palm and there was some legal threatening.


As far as the IFC deal goes... I wonder if Criterion might be interested in Silent Light or The Man From London both of which are being (somewhat) handled by IFC.

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swo17
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Re: Criterion/IFC

#45 Post by swo17 » Sun Aug 16, 2009 4:22 pm

A US R1 of Silent Light is already coming out next month, so I doubt it.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: Criterion/IFC

#46 Post by zedz » Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:51 pm

miless wrote:The problems around The Cremaster Cycle are those of 'rights'. A small number of people have purchased LaserDiscs of the series for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they didn't want their art to depreciate in value. A boxed set was in the works years ago with Palm and there was some legal threatening.
Yeah, my understanding is that the Cremaster cycle is available on DVD, but only to purchasers of Barney's artworks. i.e. it's a freebie you get if you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a shitload of vaseline. So we can expect a regular commercial release sometime south of never.

Perkins Cobb
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:49 pm

Re: Criterion/IFC

#47 Post by Perkins Cobb » Mon Aug 17, 2009 1:40 am

I didn't check everything on the handy DVDAficionado link posted by reassurance above, but I ran a lot of them through the Blockbuster website, and here's a fuller list of the IFC properties currently available as Blockbuster exclusives:

It's a Free World
The Last Mistress
The Duchess of Langeais
The Secret of the Grain
A Girl Cut in Two
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
Jar City
The Last Deadly Mission (MR 73)
Man in the Chair
Room of Death
Trivial (La Disparu de Deauville)
The Appeared
Cash
Chaser
Cortex
Diminished Capacity
Dog Eat Dog
Everlasting Moments
My Winnipeg
Puffball


Pretty amazing that all of those are gathering dust on Blockbuster shelves, and aren't available on DVD anywhere else (except for used copies of some on Amazon, it appears).

It pains me to say this, but it might be worth holding one's nose and getting a BB online membership (as I have obviously done) just to see some of these.

Arthur House
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 3:20 pm

Re: Criterion/IFC

#48 Post by Arthur House » Mon Aug 17, 2009 3:09 pm

A longshot older title: Eagle Pennell's Last Night At The Alamo. I heard Kim Henkel speak at one of the preview screenings for the new edition of The Whole Shootin' Match and when asked about the former title, he commented that IFC owned the film outright and they were more or less sitting on it. There aren't even any clips from it in the Pennell doc The King of Texas (just stills and poster art). Watchmaker did a great job with TWSM, but I don't know how further they want to go with Pennell. The film would be a nice addition to Criterion's branch of 80s indie stuff.

The biggest downside is that Lou Perryman isn't still around for a commentary. :cry:

ianungstad
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 9:20 pm

Re: Criterion/IFC

#49 Post by ianungstad » Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:46 pm

IFC is one of the brands of Rainbow Media Holdings. I don't think any of their "labels" have home video distribution...so some of the Sundance Channel stuff might be part of this deal?!

This idea came to mind after reading this press release for Sundance's new on-demand service:
http://www.daemonstv.com/2009/08/18/sun ... the-movie/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Spike Lee's Passing Strange and Kief Davidson's Kassim the Dream would be ok documentary selections.

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reassurance
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Re: Criterion/IFC

#50 Post by reassurance » Fri Aug 21, 2009 6:27 am

Ah, yes, I forgot about The Last Mistress, which I would assume in close to a guarantee as Criterion has already released Breillat's Fat Girl.

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