Criterion News and Discussion

[MacGuffin]

Michael Mann's 'Thief,' Satyajit Ray Box Set And More Coming To Criterion January 2014

If the sheer image of James Caan looking that fucking cool on a DVD cover isn't enough to get you to pick it up, we don't know what to tell you. So yes, Michael Mann's "Thief" is Criterion approved, and thus you have to the go ahead to buy it in January.

The boutique label is issuing the director's first theatrical feature, and while the content will be thin, this will probably be the best looking version of the 1981 flick ever. The tale of a safe-cracker on one last gig has been given a new 4K restoration, and will arrive with a commentary track by Mann and Caan, along with new interviews with the pair, along with Tangerine Dream who provided the excellent score to the movie. If you haven't seen this one yet, now's the time.

Continuing in the vein of intimate flicks, Criterion will drop Terence Davies' "The Long Day Closes," his 1992 flick about a young boy growing up in 1950s Liverpool. Again, the extras here are minimal — commentary and a vintage TV special being the big draws — but then again, Davies isn't exactly the kind of filmmaker whose pictures are produced with extensive bonus content in mind, so this is still one to take notice of.

Also from 1992 is deadpan master Aki Kaurismaki's "La Vie De Boheme," which features his cast of regulars, André Wilms, Matti Pellonpää, and Karl Väänänen, as a poet, painter, and composer respectively, who struggle to get by in this adaptation of the stories by Henri Murger. And like the aforementioned films, extras are slight — the big one here is a 1 hour doc on the making of the movie — but again, that we're even getting a Kaurismaki flick at all is reason enough for celebration.

The last title getting the wacky C in January is Stanley Kramer's "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and it's unlike the titles above, it's overflowing with extras, starting with a 197-minute extended cut of the film, featuring scenes appearing for the first time on this disc. A new audio commentary and documentary join an insane amount of vintage material as well, that will give full scope and perspective to the wild, goose-chase, comedy movie.

For those of you aching for more Satyajit Ray on your shelf, the Eclipse line is dropping "Late Ray," featuring three of the Indian master's movies: "The Home And The World," "An Enemy Of The People" and "The Stranger." These are all streaming now on Hulu, but if you prefer hard discs, here you go.

And finally, the stone-cold noir classic "Rififi" and Akira Kurosawa's "Throne Of Blood" are getting Blu-ray upgrades.

[Gold Trumpet]

Newsletter confirmed Harold Lloyd's The Freshman.

[MacGuffin]

'Blue Is The Warmest Color,' Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' & More Hit Criterion In February 2014

If you are one of those people in a relationship where Valentine's Day means presents, you might want to start dropping some suggestions to your significant other as Criterion has a variety pack of cinematic chocolates that you'll want to savor in February.

First up, the controversial, epic, sexually explicit, swooningly romantic and heartbreaking Cannes Palme d'Or winner "Blue Is The Warmest Color" is getting the Criterion treatment. Sort of. It will be arriving in a super barebones version first, with the boutique label already warning customers: "A full special edition treatment of this film will follow at a later date." Presumably, that means that Abdellatif Kechiche's much talked about director's cut is on the way, which makes you wonder why Criterion is bothering with this version at all. Maybe to try and cash in on whatever awards heat this movie will get? Given the complaining already going on, they've already upset more than a few of their customers with this uncharacteristic move.

Moving along, and already rumored, another Wes Anderson movie joins the Criterion club with "Fantastic Mr. Fox" getting the wacky C sticker. Unlike 'Warmest,' the director's animated family movie is coming full loaded with all kinds of extras from almost every aspect of the production you can imagine, so fans should be happy with this one. And even if you already own the movie, it looks like Criterion's edition will have a few more bells and whistles.

From a movie that has been widely available to one that has not: Steven Soderbergh's "King Of Hill" will finally see the light of day, again, in a brand spanking new home video release. It's coming chockablock with extras, but most interestingly (hilariously, kinda), is Soderbergh's mostly forgotten 1995 crime flick "The Underneath" being tossed in as a bonus feature. Yes, the entire movie. Guess he doesn't like that one.

Meanwhile, returning to epics for a moment, Roman Polanski's newly restored, nearly three hour long "Tess" is hitting Criterion too. It's coming with all the usual docs and interviews that you might expect, but most importantly, it now has a new 4K transfer that will melt your eyeballs period drama style.

Lastly, Alfred Hitchcock's stone cold classic "Foreign Correspondent" will give you some old school thrills, while Jean Luc-Godard's "Breathless" gets repackaged into Criterion's new dual format packaging.

[jenkins]

you're a robot and your news brings us joy all across the board, except here, where you freeze the criterion thread with the most boring release updates possible. it's chill though, i think robots are really great at dancing(?)

[03]

wtf are you talking about. do not question the mac.

[jenkins]

i think macguffin is a chill news machine and brings movie energy to xixax. he's something like an american hero. i'd visit his parade. still, all you gotta do is click the page numbers in this thread and see it looks like no one cares about criterion, but i don't think that's true, how could that be true, it's simply that for some reason macguffin has a tradition of posting the most boring release updates possible. in other places his lack of personal contribution allows for an equalized and news-focused poster, and idk i think that's criterion silly. that's all

anyway. from the newest release news

king of the hill's cliff martinez score, which helps the movie feel different from other time period movies, is my favorite part. the underneath is indeed a terrible movie, by soderbergh's own admission, but i like when they go to the club for jazz rock

blue is the warmest color has an msrp of $24.95 and the criterion.com store is selling it for $20. so through criterion it's landing in the standard fashion foreign movies do, and later a bigger release is coming. it's like a reverse brazil situation and it doesn't bother me

anyway. related to the current b&n 50% sale

i've narrowed my options to la notte, the big city, and i married a witch. i'll probably buy la notte

[03]

i think mac is like a deity casting down prophecies of knowledge for the peons

[jenkins]

cool

has anyone purchased a 50% off criterion?

no surprise, la notte was a dreamy choice for me. it's astonishing how precise antonioni is with people and cinema. and, i forgot antonioni makes a cat joke in la notte(!!). a ponderous q is made about a cat's metaphysics upon observing a statue. antonioni does that, well i'll be damned

netflix streamed frances ha to dodge a purchase. the dinner scene with her coworker and coworker's family floors me. it doesn't feel like movie people, it feels like real people. impressive. plus yeah, when she's running. always jealous when a movie shows someone having fun and the cinema is also fun

wanting to hulu+ i married a witch and the big city so i don't buy them instead

[samsong]

bought a bunch.  i have a b&n membership so i get an additional 10% off plus the use of some member exclusive coupons that i save for the big sets.  i got the cassavetes set for $45 and the rosselini/bergman set for $36.  hard not for me to go nuts during these sales.

i married a witch is great, and on the cheaper end msrp wise, so it's $15 with the sale.  i love studio films that cause incredulity over how they ever got made in the first place that turn out to be really good--in the case of i married a witch, it boggles my mind that such a stupid premise got handed to rene clair, who turned it into a disarmingly charming and fun screwball comedy.  ministry of fear is one of those for me, too. 

[MacGuffin]

Criterion Brings 'Persona,' 'A Brief History of Time' & 'The Great Beauty' To DVD/Blu In March

Well, it's the middle of the month, which means The Criterion Collection has announced yet another batch of releases to help keep your wallet from feeling too heavy. This March features a long-awaited title from one of the label's most celebrated directors, as well as a silent classic, and a film that came out this past year that is destined to get nominated for a Best Foreign Language Oscar.

The release of Ingmar Bergman's "Persona" comes as a special surprise. Considering the film is such an essential title in Bergman's filmography, you would think Criterion would have gotten their hands on it a long time ago. But, as these things tend to happen, rights issues most likely prevented a Criterion release all these years. Thankfully, the label has stuffed the "Persona" release with an abundance of supplements, including a visual essay with Bergman scholar Peter Cowie, an interview with Liv Ullman and Paul Schrader, archival interviews with Ullman and Bibi Andersson, on-set footage, and a feature documentary entitled "Liv & Ingmar." This will definitely be a must-have for fans of the legendary Swedish filmmaker.

"The Freshman" will be their second Harold Lloyd release following "Safety Last!" which came out earlier this year. "The Freshman" will also feature a dizzying amount of supplements, including early Lloyd shorts such as "The Marathon," "An Eastern Westerner" and "High and Dizzy." Meanwhile directors Errol Morris and Paolo Sorrentino will each be making their debuts with the Collection. Sorrentino's "The Great Beauty" will be the second Criterion film, after "Blue is the Warmest Color," that made its debut at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

While any of Errol Morris's documentaries would be worthy enough to be included on the label, Criterion has chosen to add "A Brief History of Time" to their library this time around. The doc, which originally came out in 1991, examines the life of pioneering astrophysicist Stephen Hawking. The release has been given a brand new 4k digital transfer and will include interviews with director Morris and cinematographer John Bailey.

Lastly, David Gordon Green's "George Washington" and Akira Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress" will each be getting re-released on dual-format Blu-ray and DVD. Overall, it's another great month for the Criterion label and we'll be looking forward to their annual New Year's Day drawing.

[jenkins]

b&n is 40% off blurays in general (until tomorrow)

i had a 25% off coupon and borrowed a membership. ~$17 was my criterion option. i couldn't decide. there was options. i felt panicked. so i called a cop. i chose investigation of a citizen above suspicion. that's kinda random of me. i'm excited

[samsong]

nashville not good enough for you?  or is it too boring a choice...

[jenkins]

if it makes you feel better, that's a ridiculous question in every way. btw, i never heard back from you about the cassavetes box!! curious about the experience of watching movies that have such grainy excellent qualities on bluray. i know the answer is "they're stupendous and beautiful" but i'd like to hear it

[chimbo]

Criterion's new year post for 2014:



Anyone taking guesses?

[Reel]

we got a California Raisin, a Scanner, is that the girl from 'The Ring' on the picnic blanket? IDK, it's all very vague.