Criterion Does It Again

[Martin]

(You probably knew, but Satantango is already out, albeit not by Criterion.)

I think it quickly went out of print. 

Artificial Eye released it as a 3 disc set in late 2006, and it's still very much available. (R2)

[pupscout]

Criterion wish list (in many of these cases a general dvd wish list, actually)

Films that I've seen:
Chimes at Midnight
Life is Sweet
Maborosi
Mirror
The Thin Red Line (want a director's cut)

Haven't seen:
An Actor's Revenge
Celine & Julie Go Boating (opinions on this?)
A Brighter Summer Day
Satantango
The TAMI Show

Also there's a thread on the Criterionforum message board listing forthcoming titles that have been confirmed in one way or another.  The most intriguing titles for me are John Huston's Wise Blood, which they're trying to get, and the various Mizoguchi films. 

i would love to see maborosi on criterion, or anything by hirokazu koreeda. especially after life, though.

also, putting out a whole edward yang set would seem appropriate. it's surprising that yiyi is the only one of his films that is easily obtainable.

[dvdv]

The Thin Red Line (want a director's cut)

Right there with you.  I also read that Malick was going to recut The New World for a dvd release.

[Chris L]

(You probably knew, but Satantango is already out, albeit not by Criterion.)

I think it quickly went out of print. 

Artificial Eye released it as a 3 disc set in late 2006, and it's still very much available. (R2)

I ended up buying this Artifical Eye version of Bela Tarr's Satantango and finished watching it tonight (it took about 3 nights)

Here are some of the imdb keywords for this 7 1/2 hour film:

Animal Abuse
Long Take
Countryside
Hopelessness
Poverty

So yeah, some of it was kinda funny. 

No kidding.  Among other things, you get a mix of some of the most punishing sequences I've ever seen and some wicked satire (the non-funny kind).  One character babbles the same piece of exposition for at least 6-8 minutes straight.  There's a drunken, accordian-fueled, barroom dance sequence that went on SO GODDAMN LONG that I was giddily cracking up.  A fat, wheezing, alcoholic, shut-in doctor goes out in the rain to buy brandy... this takes almost an hour.

I think because the running time is so enormous I was able to settle in and adjust to the slow pace better than I have with a lot of 90-120 minute films (including Tarr's own Werckmeister Harmonies).  The B&W cinematography looks amazing, and the sound design noticeably sticks out as being effective. 

Ultimately, I had to speed up a few of these scenes, but not many.  One that I did have to fast forward through was the unnervingly ugly little girl tormenting the cat.  I was somewhat relieved to find out there was a vet present and it now lives with Tarr (so it certainly fared better than the horse in Andrei Rublev, at least).   

This film is a singular experience, to say the least, and a worthwhile one, if they ever put out a decent US dvd. 

[Omar]

Dear Criterion Collection Newsletter subscriber,

We’ve got some exciting news for this fall, and we wanted you to hear it first.

Our first Blu-ray discs are coming! We’ve picked a little over a dozen titles from the collection for Blu-ray treatment, and we’ll begin rolling them out in October. These new editions will feature glorious high-definition picture and sound, all the supplemental content of the DVD releases, and they will be priced to match our standard-def editions.

Here’s what’s in the pipeline:

The Third Man
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Last Emperor
El Norte
President Baseball
The 400 Blows
Gimme Shelter
The Complete Monterey Pop
Contempt
Walkabout
It’s Raining Membranes
For All Mankind
The Wages of Fear

Alongside our DVD and Blu-ray box sets of The Last Emperor, we’ll also be putting out the theatrical version as a stand-alone release in both formats, priced at $39.95. Our Blu-ray release of Walkabout will be an all-new edition, featuring new supplements as well as a new transfer; we will also release an updated anamorphic DVD of Nicolas Roeg’s outback masterpiece at the same time.

[Martin]

Yes! I couldn't be more excited. About time too. I think this:

they will be priced to match our standard-def editions

is absolute key, and very clever by Criterion. There's been much speculation about how impossibly expensive Criterion BD would have to be considering how much their standard discs cost, but this is very reassuring. I've been waiting for news like this - I will now make the transition as soon as possible.

(The people of Newbridge were right about blue!)

[Chris L]

Not much point getting Blu-Ray w/ my tv, so I'm merely left wondering if this means Chungking Express and Bottle Rocket are coming out in standard editions too.  Come on, Criterian, don't let me down! 

[Martin]

They will. BD is not a standard format yet, and I think they realize it would be suicide to abandon standard DVDs. The average Criterion customer doesn't seem like an early adopter to me - Blu-ray needs to become a household format first. (And I think the projected retail price for Criterion BDs is a good way to hurry that process.)

[Gilly]

Blu-Ray will never be standard format IMO. The only reason so many people have them is because they have PS3's and if they didn't exist there would be very few people with high definition players. My thought is that once high speed internet becomes more widespread digital distribution will be the way to go and we'll see the same thing as MP3's and CD's with MPEG4's (or whatever) and DVDs.

I just don't buy into the idea that most movie watchers will repurchase their collection and buy a new player for a little increase in quality. Most people buying HDTV's aren't purchasing 50-60 inch screens where you can tell a huge difference between Blu-Ray and a DVD on an upconvert player. It's not like the huge change we experienced with VHS to DVD. My feeling is that Blu-Ray is going to flop big-time.

[Gagneaux]

I think blu-ray has a chance of making it. Most (if not all) players are backwards compatable, so you really don't have to repurchase your dvd collection.

I was a hi-def skeptic for a long time, but I'm sold on it now.

[Joe Rogaine]

My vote goes for Out Of The Blue

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lgR_LUmf4vs&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lgR_LUmf4vs&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[Gilly]

I totally vote for President Baseball.

[thecramedog]

Anybody see that Critierion is releasing The Red Balloon and Paddle To The Sea?  These were classic "edu-tainment" movies that we'd watch as kids whenever it was raining outside.  They'd always drag us into the cafeteria and show us the movie on a terrible vhs tape.  Now, thanks to Critierion, the films have been re-transferred and they look gorgeous.  Paddle To The Sea is especially awesome for those Canucks among us:

http://www.amazon.com/Paddle-Released-association-Criterion-Collection/dp/B0012Z362G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1210354129&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Balloon-Released-association-Criterion-Collection/dp/B0012Z361M/ref=pd_bxgy_d_img_b

[Chris L]

Criterion released them but didn't make them part of the "Collection" so that they might attract more of a family audience.  They pulled a similar trick a while back with Good Boy!

[masterofsparks]

Criterion released them but didn't make them part of the "Collection" so that they might attract more of a family audience.  They pulled a similar trick a while back with Good Boy!

I saw The Red Balloon in the store and wondered why it was cheap (for a Criterion disc, anyway - $15) and had no spine number. That explains it.