Why Won't They Release Only What I Want?

[Michael Kerpan]

At least Criterion has put a good number of Naruse films up on streaming (though I wish they would add more). Unfortunately Toho is far more problematic to deal with than Shochiku -- it tends to make unrealistic demands on lots of its holding. It is like it doesn't want to be bothered if it can't make big bucks. I think a lot of the Naruse films actually have far better source materials than most of the Shochiku films of similar vintage. But Toho hasn't bothered to make hardly any of these available even within Japan.

I hope one day one will get a chance to see Archibaldo de la Cruz in HD without having to subscribe to HBO....

[tenia]

Speaking of French Blu-ray releases tenia, can you provide any insight on the French Blu-ray of Dillinger Is Dead? Is it 4K-sourced and does it have a good encode? I know the film had a 4K restoration at some point.

I reviewed it here : https://testsbluray.com/2022/02/10/test ... -est-mort/
The 4k restoration is pretty much OK, though the grading is very different from the Criterion DVD, not in a way that feels like a blanket issue à la Ritrovata or Eclair, just very different and I can't say which is supposedly more faithful.
The encode is quite mediocre though, showing the "cyclical" blockiness issue too many French BDs are showing (1 frame is fine, followed by 2 or 3 that are bad, then back to 1 which is fine - I can only suppose it's a poor setup of the encoder that leaves the I-frame intact but everything else is rubbish).

French subs are optionnal. Soundtracks are in DD 2.0 192kbps (yup).

[swo17]

I hope one day one will get a chance to see Archibaldo de la Cruz in HD without having to subscribe to HBO....

2022 Blu-ray

[Michael Kerpan]

swo -- Did anyone review this release here? I had no idea. Thanks!

[swo17]

There's some discussion starting here. They did actually end up spelling the director's name correctly on the cover

[Johnny8204]

It's hardly "appeasing the woke crowd" to want to move outside traditional comfort zones. I much prefer working on titles that don't constitute the umpteenth repackaging of someone whose place in the canon is already rock-solid - in fact, Pasolini 101 is one of the least interesting new Criterion releases to me because I have all these films bar Mamma Roma on perfectly decent Blu-ray releases already.

I think the issue really is what's being platformed and what's not being platformed. In the past I would purchase 4 Criterion films a year I might even blind buy one it it's a genre that really appeals to me (French New Wave, Classic Science Fiction, Horror). Its now been two years since Criterion has released a title that I've wanted to own, rewatch and revisit (The Swimming Pool).