Criterion and Warner Bros.

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Highway 61
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:40 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#76 Post by Highway 61 » Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:34 am

Ha! What a bust for Warner to finally announce a release for Zabriskie Point, then have this rumor surface. I pray that it's true since there's no way Criterion doesn't release these on Blu.

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Cronenfly
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#77 Post by Cronenfly » Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:37 am

IMDB post citing ianungstad's email from Linklater's production company, which is notable for drawing attention to Warner's licensing out of titles in R2 (like Lisztomania), which would suggest a fundamental change in approach from Warner regarding licensing titles to third parties. I also agree with the poster that it's likely the semi-obscure stuff (like Suburbia) that will get released, not the capital C classic unreleased titles like Ambersons and Greed (which, though others have mentioned this likelihood before, seems worth repeating).

And on a completely unrelated note I'd kill for one of the other two WB titles to be Performance on SD and Blu, with fixed audio, the BBC Cammell doc, and copious other goodies (maybe Criterion could finally convince Roeg to say something of any depth about his experience on the film).

ianungstad
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#78 Post by ianungstad » Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:54 am

Performance is a great suggestion! Hopefully they picked up Don't Look Now from Paramount. (I know that it was discredited early on in the Paramount thread but wasn't there some news that a second round of Paramount titles have been licensed? Anything's possible.)

I'm sure Criterion is going to be ticked off at Linklater for leaking three of the titles tomorrow.

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kaujot
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#79 Post by kaujot » Wed Feb 18, 2009 2:17 am

According to the poster, it didn't happen, but I would kill to hear a Soderbergh/Linklater commentary (recorded in the same room at the same time, of course).

ianungstad
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#80 Post by ianungstad » Wed Feb 18, 2009 2:53 am

Hendrickson said there's another batch of Fox titles coming up too right? If they got Badlands...maybe they grabbed The Thin Red Line from Fox as well.

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What A Disgrace
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#81 Post by What A Disgrace » Wed Feb 18, 2009 7:58 am

I wonder what the chances are that Criterion would snatch the Benjamin Christensen silent films for an Eclipse set, or some of the earlier Vidors (I have a feeling Warner is even less anxious to release Wild Oranges or The Wine o Our Youth). Or Lubitsch's The Student Prince of Old Heidelburg.

HarryLong
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#82 Post by HarryLong » Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:05 am

Since Warners refuses to do anything with it, it'd be nice if Criterion could snag Ken Russell's THE DEVILS.

beamish13
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#83 Post by beamish13 » Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:21 pm

Bill Forsyth, whose film "Housekeeping" has already been mentioned as a Criterion contender in the Sony thread, should also be represented in the collection with his woefully neglected WB film "Local Hero" (and, if Criterion wants to go completely nuts, try to dig up the original cut of "Being Human").

This deal also seems to be the perfect venue through which Tom Schiller's "Nothing Lasts Forever" can be unearthed from a quarter century of studio apathy at MGM and Warners.

Kowalski
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:37 am

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#84 Post by Kowalski » Fri Feb 20, 2009 3:21 pm

Hello all, new poster here. Wanted to comment on the Suburbia matter.

I had heard first hand that Suburbia was a priority to be released on DVD either by Warners (if they would let the filmmakers be involved) or then by Criterion if Warners couldn't follow through. Linklater said Warners was interested a few years back at SXSX when A Scanner Darkly was about to debut (Note soon after Scanner tanked big time).

Like austinfilm (I am assuming by the name anyway), I live in the Austin. I am going to try and get to where there is confusion... and austinfilm, feel free to correct me if I am wrong. Designer Marc English as you all know is a local designer who has done work for multiple Criterion released, including the two Linklater films in the cannon. I remember some advertisements in some local magazines for English design in the fall of 2008 the had a quoting about him working on Suburbia. There was also the Austin Chronicle article that someone already linked to previously (http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase ... d%3A591608" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

I feel like this is what austinfilm may have seen, suburbia confirmation not the Before Sun-films. I don't think at the moment there are any plans for other Linklater titles, especially if Detour has stated so. Anyway it seems Linklaters priority would be for the completely unreleased on DVD Suburbia. Criterion too, if they had a deal with Warners would spread the wealth and pick some other filmmakers too. I feel that the Before films would be viable enough for Warners to want to release their own set.

beamish13
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#85 Post by beamish13 » Sat Feb 21, 2009 8:38 pm

Methinks it's time for Peter Weir's "Fearless" to be presented on DVD the way it was meant to be.

Kowalski
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#86 Post by Kowalski » Sun Feb 22, 2009 12:19 am

Agreed it would be a great addition to the CC library. Fearless is an amazing film. Thankful that its on DVD at all, but seriously along with True Stories it's one of Warners biggest botch jobs as released in cropped pan and scan. Late last year Warner Germany put out Weir's film with an anamorphic remastered.

ianungstad
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#87 Post by ianungstad » Sun Feb 22, 2009 3:23 pm

austinfilm wrote:The Facts on Warner/ CC releases (as I've been told by the filmmakers):

Linklater's Suburbia is in the process of the Criterion treatment. He also told me that when he met with them to discuss what he would like done for that they asked if he could contribute to their versions of Badlands and Zabriskie Point. Linklater is a good friend of fellow Austin resident Malick (there are collectible Malick posters littering his office).

I can also tell you that Linklater informed me that Steven Soderbergh has recorded a commentary track for Zabriskie Point. a friend interviewed Soderbergh for an article on Che and the filmmaker confirmed this with him.

As for the Before Sunrise/ Before Sunset is also on the way. I am not sure who is releasing it. I saw proofs by designer Marc English (Austin based graphic artist who did the DVD art for both Dazed and Confused and Slacker). Based on the proofs (though no criterion logo on the set), it would seem that they are also being released by Criterion. I asked if any of his other films would get the CC treatment and he said the after BS/BS and Suburbia, Newton Boys and Tape would be a possibility but that release is still a ways down the road.
Marc English was kind enough to respond to an email inquiry I sent him. He confirmed that SubUrbia is in the works and a doc that Linklater did on Augie Meyer. (Maybe the Augie Meyer doc will be a bonus feature on SubUrbia like the bonus flick on Slacker?) Personally I have never heard about the doc or even know who Augie Meyer is, but interesting none the less....

As for your post regarding the Warner information, I'll let this quote from Marc speak for itself : I know nothing about sunset/sunrise proofs, and if they exist we have nothing to do with them : ( i would be half-way curious to see said proofs.

He also mentioned that SubUrbia was acquired around two years ago...so I'm assuming the deal with WB has been in the works for some time.

Unfortunatly I am also now skeptical that your information regarding Zabriskie Point and Badlands is legit. has anyone sent any confirmation emails about these titles to Mulvaney?

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GringoTex
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#88 Post by GringoTex » Sun Feb 22, 2009 4:13 pm

ianungstad wrote:He confirmed that SubUrbia is in the works and a doc that Linklater did on Augie Meyer. (Maybe the Augie Meyer doc will be a bonus feature on SubUrbia like the bonus flick on Slacker?) Personally I have never heard about the doc or even know who Augie Meyer is, but interesting none the less.
I think that's Augie Garrido, the UT baseball coach. Linklater made a documentary about him for ESPN last year.

ianungstad
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#89 Post by ianungstad » Sun Feb 22, 2009 4:20 pm

I just double checked my email. He definitly said Augie Meyer but your probably right and he just got the names confused. Augie Meyer is a keyboard player from San Antonio that has worked with Bob Dylan amongst others. I dunno....

More importantly, I posted that information because it seems that part, if not all of austin's post is bogus.

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kaujot
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#90 Post by kaujot » Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:08 pm

Incidentally, Augie was recently arrested for a DWI.

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Cronenfly
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#91 Post by Cronenfly » Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:14 pm

I just shot off an email to Mulvaney; I'll post back right away if/when I get a response. In my email I addressed Badlands/Zabriskie as well as the Warner deal more generally; someone else/multiple others may want to send one just asking about those two titles specifically, as I have a feeling Mulvaney may be in no mood to discuss the Warner deal at this point in time (i.e. by even mentioning it in my email I might be guaranteed no response/an unsatisfactory one; re. Mulvaney's response to ianungstad on the first page of this thread).

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justeleblanc
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#92 Post by justeleblanc » Sun Feb 22, 2009 7:43 pm

Cronenfly, good idea. Might it also be worth seeing if we can contact someone at Warner?

The problem here is that the contract might explicitly state some sort of secrecy, considering that Warner is releasing their own bare bones disc of Zabriskie. I would be less likely to buy the Warner if know that Criterion is definitely releasing a tripped out version.

Kowalski
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:37 am

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#93 Post by Kowalski » Sun Feb 22, 2009 7:58 pm

I just got a second confirmation on the Steven Soderbergh commentary on "Zabriskie Point." A buddy of mine interviewed the filmmaker while he was doing his press for Che and Soderbergh did indeed record a commentary for the film. He did not specify if it was for the Warner release or for a future Criterion but it was recorded last year.

ianungstad
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#94 Post by ianungstad » Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:06 pm

So it seems everything is legit except the confusion surrounding BS/BS? Well that's good news then. I didn't think they would pick up 3 Linklaters if they were limited to 5 WB titles anyways.

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HypnoHelioStaticStasis
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#95 Post by HypnoHelioStaticStasis » Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:20 pm

It is entirely possible Warner had Soderbergh record a commentary for Zabriskie Point but opted against it for the release. They've done similar things before, such as not adding on Sidney Lumet's track for Prince of the City on their release.

I'd wait for confirmation on either side before we can make a call on the Antonioni making it into Criterion. IMO, it's a stupid move for Warner, who are releasing this enormously anticipated title in May.

Kowalski
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#96 Post by Kowalski » Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:51 pm

Wow there was a commentary by Sidney Lumet for "Prince of the City" ... unforgivable!

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mfunk9786
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#97 Post by mfunk9786 » Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:54 pm

Having just seen Badlands for the first time, on HDNet Movies, moments ago; a Criterion release of the film would be ridiculously exciting news.

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Tom Hagen
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#98 Post by Tom Hagen » Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:03 pm

Entirely frivolous dream feature for a Criterion Badlands release: Bruce Springsteen discusses the influence of the film on his song "Nebraska", among other work.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#99 Post by mfunk9786 » Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:21 pm

My fingers are crossed for some Starkweather-Fugate doc(s). But I can't say I've necessarily got my hopes up.

AisleSeat
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#100 Post by AisleSeat » Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:31 pm

DVDBeaver is showing Zabriskie Point being released by Warner Home Video. Amazon.com lists a release date of May 26, 2009.

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