Criterion Random Speculation Vol.4

Message

klee13 · #951 Post by **klee13** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 1:01 am

Well, this is probably a discussion for a different time, but I'm not sure if I agree completely. Breathless may have a lot of connections to earlier American movies but I think the style in which it was made illuminates the New Wave period in French cinematic culture history much more then, say Jules and Jim, which takes place at the beginning of the 20th century if you are going to look at it so literally. Though, actually looking at your list again, not all of the films in each category depict the period they were released in, so maybe I'm not exactly understanding the final project right.
I don't think the course sounds terrible even with some of the dubious selections. Maybe the teacher just wanted to be 'cutting edge'. I just finished a French cinema course myself, but I had to design it personally because my school doesn't offer any film studies classes. It turned out being pretty fun actually.

fortunato · #952 Post by **fortunato** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 1:27 am

what about e. elias herhige?

i'd like to see begotten and shadow of the vampire on criterion.

another title that really deserves the criterion treatment is tod browning's freaks. an important film if there ever was one. i'm sure distribution rights would be a problem there, though.

Murdoch · #953 Post by **Murdoch** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 1:33 am

I don't think there's anything wrong with the current R1 release of Freaks, the picture quality's great and there's a good deal of extras.

And I don't think Merhige has done anything worthwhile enough to give him a release, from what I've seen his films have been interesting but nothing special.

tojoed · #954 Post by **tojoed** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 6:09 am

jbeall wrote:Good thing, too, b/c the Fox/Lorber disc sucked.

What exactly is wrong with the Fox-Lorber, apart from there being no extras? The transfer is perfectly fine to my eyes.

Thomas J. · #955 Post by **Thomas J.** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 6:41 pm

fortunato wrote:what about e. elias herhige?

i'd like to see begotten and shadow of the vampire on criterion.

another title that really deserves the criterion treatment is tod browning's freaks. an important film if there ever was one. i'm sure distribution rights would be a problem there, though.

Warner doesn't let Criterion distribute any of their films.

Adam · #956 Post by **Adam** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 7:40 pm

It's Merhige, not Herhige. And I think Begotten is pretty remarkable.

Antoine Doinel · #957 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:44 pm

So, could the restored This Happy Breed, be another one of the MGM titles Criterion is acquiring? The current MGM disc is OOP.

miless · #958 Post by **miless** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:50 pm

I think it's safe to say that the three titles will all be Lean titles... so very possible.

Antoine Doinel · #959 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:55 pm

Well, the BFI is restoring the first 10 Lean films --- maybe an Early Lean Eclipse set?

Cinephrenic · #960 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 3:03 pm

That probably would depend, big studios usually calculates to big expenses as licensing goes, but I've been wrong many times. I would be happy either way.

justeleblanc · #961 Post by **justeleblanc** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:20 pm

Rialto will be re-releasing MADE IN USA. Also mentioned on my blog here.

ellipsis7 · #962 Post by **ellipsis7** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:22 pm

Should be in a nice print - Optimum/Studio Canal DVD is pretty fine...

Stefan Andersson · #963 Post by **Stefan Andersson** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:23 am

Anybody want Criterion to release Victor Erice´s EL SUR (1983)?

Tommaso · #964 Post by **Tommaso** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 6:31 am

Stefan Andersson wrote:Anybody want Criterion to release Victor Erice´s EL SUR (1983)?

Absolutely! This, and "Sol del Membrillo". I actually hoped that these two films were coming shortly after their release of "Beehive", but nothing happened. And this although "Membrillo" is already out in Spain in what seems to be an excellent double-disc-set which actually has English subs (so they could have simply ported the extras and subs and do a little bit of extra cleaning up on the film itself).

HerrSchreck · #965 Post by **HerrSchreck** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:40 am

Stefan Andersson wrote:Anybody want Criterion to release Victor Erice´s EL SUR (1983)?

Abso-ipso-factoLUTELY.

Can anyone who's seen this as well as Beehive give an assessment of one vs the other? How does SUR measure up qualitatively?

Gigi M. · #966 Post by **Gigi M.** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:29 am

HerrSchreck wrote:
Stefan Andersson wrote:Anybody want Criterion to release Victor Erice´s EL SUR (1983)?

Abso-ipso-factoLUTELY.

Can anyone who's seen this as well as Beehive give an assessment of one vs the other? How does SUR measure up qualitatively?

El Sur is a better a film than Beehive. An absolute masterpiece of a film.

ellipsis7 · #967 Post by **ellipsis7** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:33 am

Quince Tree Sun could be paired with it....

Michael · #968 Post by **Michael** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:35 am

It looks like Wing of Desire went OOP. Does anyone know if it's going to release again? Maybe CC picked it up?

Antoine Doinel · #969 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:42 am

Strange MGM would let it go OOP, as their special edition was very good, with a great transfer and some good extras.

criterionsnob · #970 Post by **criterionsnob** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:11 pm

I asked Tamara about more Erice (including El Sur and Quince Tree) a few months ago, but she never responded. I'd love to see more Erice in the collection.

#971 Post by **domino harvey** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:14 pm

Wow, I guess I should have bought Wings of Desire last month when it was $7.50 on Amazon. Whoops, now it's selling for $28 at the cheapest.

A lot of MGM titles have been going out of print. Just recently, notable films such as Kiss Me, Stupid and Electra Glide in Blue-- might be a solid investment for future returns.

Oggilby · #972 Post by **Oggilby** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:30 pm

fortunato wrote:another title that really deserves the criterion treatment is tod browning's freaks. an important film if there ever was one.

Warner's DVD has a commentary (David J. Skal), an hour-long documentary, the re-release prologue, and alternate endings. Only about $12 at most retailers.

HerrSchreck · #973 Post by **HerrSchreck** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:40 pm

Freaks is WB, and its old news that WB never licenses to CC.

What's wrong w the WB edition anyhow? You'd probably wind up with one extra Extra Feature vs the WB (with some yawn of a talking head overintellectualizing what essentially was-- albeit fiercely antisocial textually-- a hoot of an exploitation picture), and another 20 bucks on the sticker price.

Cronenfly · #974 Post by **Cronenfly** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:34 pm

Antoine Doinel wrote:Strange MGM would let it go OOP, as their special edition was very good, with a great transfer and some good extras.

Given the quality of the MGM SE, I really can't see Criterion picking this up; it seems to me that this is more like all those Sony/Paramount titles that went OOP because Sony/Para. couldn't be bothered to reprint the titles.

However, I suppose it could be possible, and the Fox DVD of Paris, Texas also went OOP not too long ago...and it isn't that I wouldn't mind Criterion releasing these titles, but I just can't see the point beyond the old discs being OOP.

Queiroz · #975 Post by **Queiroz** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 8:45 am

Not sure if this has been discussed before, but was there ever a chance of Criterion getting their hands on "Make Way for Tomorrow"? It's recently been released in France, and is a Universal title if I'm not mistaken.

Criterion Random Speculation Vol.4

Wings of Desire OOP