Criterion News and Discussion

[Stefen]

haha, nope, just discussion.

[SiliasRuby]

I would have damn near believed the 'let the right one in' and the 'sydney' criterions. Too bad they're fake.

[edison]

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Wim Wenders, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
Audio commentary featuring Wenders
Interview with Wenders by German journalist Roger Willemsen
Excerpts from the 1990 film Motion and Emotion: The Road to "Paris, Texas," featuring interviews with Wenders, actors Harry Dean Stanton, Hanns Zischler, Dennis Hopper, and Peter Falk, composer Ry Cooder, cinematographer Robby Müller, novelist Patricia Highsmith, and filmmaker Samuel Fuller
New interviews with filmmakers Allison Anders and Claire Denis
Cinéma cinémas: "Wim Wenders Hollywood April '84," with Wenders and Cooder working on the score
Deleted scenes and Super 8 home movies
Gallery of Wenders's location-scouting photos, from his book Written in the West
Behind-the-scenes photos by Robin Holland
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Nick Roddick and interviews with Stanton, writer Sam Shepard, and actors Nastassja Kinski and Dean Stockwell


New, restored high-definition digital transfers
Video introductions by Roberto Rossellini to all three films, from 1963
New video interviews with Rossellini scholar Adriano Aprà, Rossellini's friend and confessor Father Virgilio Fantuzzi, and filmmakers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
Audio commentary on Rome Open City by film scholar Peter Bondanella
Once Upon a Time . . . "Rome Open City," a 2006 documentary on the making of this historic film, featuring rare archival material and footage of Anna Magnani, Federico Fellini, Ingrid Bergman, and many others
Rossellini and the City, a new documentary on Rossellini's use of the urban landscape in these films, by film scholar Mark Shiel
Excerpts from rarely seen videotaped discussions Rossellini had with faculty and students at Rice University in 1970 about his craft
Into the Future, a new visual essay about the War Trilogy by film scholar Tag Gallagher
Roberto Rossellini, a 2001 documentary by Carlo Lizzani, assistant director on Germany Year Zero, tracing Rossellini's career through archival footage and interviews with family members and collaborators, with tributes by filmmakers François Truffaut and Martin Scorsese
Letters from the Front: Carlo Lizzani on "Germany Year Zero," a 1987 podium discussion with Lizzani
Italian credits and prologue for Germany Year Zero
New illustrated essay by film scholar Thomas Meder on Rossellini's relationship with his mistress Roswitha Schmidt
New and improved English subtitle translations
PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by director Irene Bignardi and film scholars Colin McCabe, James Quandt, and Jonathan Rosenbaum


High-definition digital transfers of Che: Part One and Che: Part Two, supervised and approved by director Steven Soderbergh, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
Audio commentaries on both films, featuring Jon Lee Anderson, author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
Making "Che," a new documentary about the film's production, featuring interviews with Soderbergh, producer Laura Bickford, actor-producer Benicio del Toro, and writers Peter Buchman and Ben van der Veen
New interviews with Cuban historians as well as participants in the 1958 Cuban Revolution and Che's 1967 Bolivian campaign
Deleted scenes
Theatrical trailers
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Amy Taubin
More!

NOTE: Che: Part One appears in 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Che: Part Two appears in 1.78:1 aspect ratio.



Also Blu-Ray 8 1/2

[Gold Trumpet]

Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy is a major release. Considering the magnitude of Germany Year Zero and Rome Open City, I'm surprised Criterion didn't try to go about releasing the films separately, but I'm not complaining. If this was four years ago, I would have the money to buy the entire set, but now all I can do is daydream about it.

It's just awesome that Criterion has now released the majority of their targeted foreign film releases and continue to surprise and endear me with their title selections. They need to committ themselves more to Antonioni, Eisenstein, Troell and Syberberg to make me really happy, but the continuous amount of good releases every year is convincing me I need to get Netflix again.

[samsong]

love that paris, texas cover.  in light of wenders releases (though they're his major works), hopefully criterion will release kings of the road.

the akerman set has got me licking my chops. je tu il elle is beautiful and les rendez-vous d'anna has been near the top of my to-see list for quite some time.

[tpfkabi]

love that paris, texas cover. 

[Jefferson]

that rossellini set makes me cream my pants. i adore rome but have never seen an above average copy. can't wait to see what they've done with it.

[Gamblour.]

The Third Man going OOP:

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3606

[tpfkabi]

The Third Man going OOP:

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3606

In the Comments someone said it just meant they were getting rid of the slipcase, so I take it they will be printing another version. I don't know why the site would label it as OOP if they planned to reprint it a different way.

[picolas]

I don't know why the site would label it as OOP if they planned to reprint it a different way.

[size=8]$[/size]

[MacGuffin]

The Third Man going OOP:

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3606

In the Comments someone said it just meant they were getting rid of the slipcase, so I take it they will be printing another version. I don't know why the site would label it as OOP if they planned to reprint it a different way.

From TheDigitalBits:

I've confirmed with the folks at Criterion that their rights to Carol Reed's The Third Man have expired, and so for now the recent DVD and Blu-ray versions are to be considered out-of-print. That means those copies that are now on stores shelves or happen to be sitting in the warehouse are all that's left. So if you want either version, grab 'em fast while you still can.

[edison]

High-definition digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Tony Pierce-Roberts and approved by director James Ivory (with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
New video appreciation of the late Ismail Merchant by director Ivory (available only on the Blu-ray edition)
Building "Howards End," a documentary featuring interviews with Ivory, Merchant, Helena Bonham Carter, costume designer Jenny Beavan, and Academy Award–winning production designer Luciana Arrighi
The Design of "Howards End," a detailed look at the costume and production designs for the film, including original sketches
The Wandering Company, a 50-minute documentary about the history of Merchant Ivory Productions
Original 1992 behind-the-scenes featurette
Original theatrical trailer
PLUS: An essay by critic Kenneth Turan (available only with the Blu-ray edition)


New, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Steve McQueen (with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
Video interviews with McQueen and actor Michael Fassbender
A short documentary on the making of Hunger, including interviews with McQueen, Fassbender, actors Liam Cunningham, Stuart Graham, and Brian Milligan, writer Enda Walsh, and producer Robin Gutch
"The Provo's Last Card?" a 1981 episode of the BBC program Panorama, about the causes and effects of the IRA hunger strikes at the Maze prison and the political and civilian reactions across Northern Ireland
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Chris Darke


New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
Audio commentary featuring Max Ophuls scholar Susan White
"Max Ophuls ou le plaisir de tourner," a 1965 episode of the French television program Cinéastes de notre temps, featuring interviews with many of Ophuls's collaborators
Max by Marcel, a new documentary by Marcel Ophuls about his father and the making of Lola Montès
Silent footage of actress Martine Carol demonstrating the various glamorous hairstyles in Lola Montès
Theatrical rerelease trailer from Rialto Pictures
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Gary Giddins


New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Tomorrow, Yesterday, and Today, a new video interview featuring filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich discussing the career of Leo McCarey and his thoughts on Make Way for Tomorrow
New video interview with critic Gary Giddins in which he talks about McCarey's artistry and the political and social context of the film
PLUS: A booklet featuring new essays by critic Tag Gallagher and filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier, as well as an excerpt from film scholar Robin Wood's 1998 piece "Leo McCarey and 'Family Values'"


New, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Götz Spielmann (with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
New video interview with Spielmann
The Making of "Revanche," a half-hour documentary shot on the film's set
Foreign Land, Spielmann's award-winning student short film, with an introduction by the director
U.S. theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: An essay by critic Michael Wood

[samsong]

 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

make way for tomorrow!!!  i hope that's a temp cover.  everyone should blind buy it.  i'm so happy about this.

the hunger cover is great.  if only i liked the movie more.  not huge on lola montes but a film that visually arresting on blu-ray may be enough to warrant a purchase. 

[Gold Trumpet]

That looks like an excellent month. I don't know Make Way for Tomorrow, but I'm now going to look into it more. Lola Montes may be an exercise of style for Ophuls, but I've never seen the film in a good print. I imagine the experience could be different so I'll probably buy it.

I'm still waiting on a re-release annoucement for The Red Shoes. A new transfer has been completed and released in the UK, but Criterion is taking their time with a homefront release. When it's release, that alone may force me to buy a blu-ray player.

[Stefen]

Hey, guys, I know a lot of us use the stream instanty feature on Netflix, whether it's directly to our PC's or laptops, or to XBox 360 or PS3, so here's a list of Criterion titles available to stream instantly...

Don't know if these are the actual Criterion transfers (I'd assume they are), but they're Criterion approved flicks, and they're seal of approval is good enough for me to add them to my instant queue. I got the list from the forums at www.theauteurs.com

8 1/2
Ratcatcher
Shoot the Piano Player
Lord of the Flies
La Strada
Au Revoir Les Enfants
Boudu Saved from Drowning
A Nous la Liberte
Hoop Dreams
Hopscotch
Carnival of Souls
Slacker
The Red Balloon
White Mane
Vampyr
Pierrot Le Fou
The Most Dangerous Game
Thieves Highway
Ararcord
Mon Oncle
Peeping Tom
La jetee
Heart and Minds
A Nos Amours
Burden of Dreams
The Spirit of the Beehive
Eyes Without a Face
Beauty and the Beast
The Thief of Bagdad
Branded to Kill
Murderous Maids
Ballad of a Soldier

And these are the ones coming soon.

Ikiru
Grey Gardens
The Last Emperor
Z
L'Avventura
Cleo From 5 to 7
Hidden Fortress
Walkabout
Jules and Jim
The Virgin Spring
Pickpocket
Le Corbeau
Summertime
La Bete Humaine
The Lower Depths(Renoir)
Black Orpheus
Elevator To The Gallows
Onibaba
Closely Watched Trains
Europa
Children of Paradise
Cria Cuervos

Among others I believe.