November Criterions

[honking]

I was snooping around on www.image-entertainment.com and on their November releases they had the following criterions listed:

Tales of Hoffman

Ran

Ugetsu

See FilmFanSea's post for the specs below!

[Atreus]

It is good to see that Ran is getting some sort of confirmation after all the theories that it was just an April Fool's Day joke.

[Giles]

I recall Criterion realized that and apologized profusely when they realized that prelimanary "Ran" DVD info came out in and around the first of April.

[FilmFanSea]

Release dates, specs, and prices are available on the Image website (but no artwork yet):

Ugetsu (http://www.image-entertainment.com/detail.cfm?productID=41674) 11/08/05 $39.95
The great Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi draws on sources from both East and West for this, his crowning achievement. Set in sixteenth-century Japan, a period of bloody civil war, the film is equally rooted in the postwar psyche of 1950s Japan. Focusing on an ambitious potter haunted by a beautiful ghost and a farmer who dreams of becoming a samurai, the film offers a commentary on the delusions of lust and power, the folly of war, and the stoic suffering of women. Renowned cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa helps Mizoguchi seamlessly interweave the supernatural with reality, resulting in one of the most beautiful films of all time.

Criterion's double-disc edition will feature audio commentary by critic Tony Rayns, a two-and-a-half hour documentary on Mizoguchi by Kaneto Shindo, a new interview with director Masahiro Shinoda on the film, new interviews with first assistant director Tokuzo Tanaka and Miyagawa on their work on the film, trailers, a booklet featuring the original stories on which the film was based, and more.

Ran (http://www.image-entertainment.com/detail.cfm?productID=41676) 11/22/05 $39.95
Legendary director Akira Kurosawa re-imagines Shakespeare's tragic King Lear as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan. Tatsuya Nakadai (The Sword of Doom, Kagemusha) stars as Lord Hidetora, a warlord who cedes authority over his vast dominion to his eldest son, setting off a familial power struggle for control of his kingdom. Majestic in scope, Ran is a visual masterpiece in which Kurosawa contrasts the immensity of war with the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power.

Criterion's magnificent two-disc edition will include not only a newly-restored transfer, but also A.K., Chris Marker's 74-minute documentary on Kurosawa's craft in making the film; an introduction by filmmaker Sidney Lumet; a half-hour Toho documentary on the making of the film; a half-hour video piece reconstructing the film through Kurosawa's paintings and sketches; a new interview with star Tatsuya Nakadai; and more.

Tales of Hoffmann (http://www.image-entertainment.com/detail.cfm?productID=41678) 11/22/05 $39.95
In Jacques Offenbach's fantasy opera, the poet E.T.A. Hoffmann dreams of three women - a mechanical performing doll, a bejeweled siren who steals his reflection, and the consumptive daughter of a famous composer - all of whom break his heart in different ways. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger create a phantasmagoric marriage of cinema and opera in their one-of-a-kind take on this classic story. Feverishly romantic, The Tales of Hoffmann is a feast of music, dance, and visual effects - one of the most exhilarating film adaptations of an opera ever produced.

Criterion's long-awaited DVD (one of our most requested titles) will feature audio commentary by Martin Scorsese & film historian Bruce Eder, a new introduction to the film by director and fan George A. Romero, Michael Powell's short musical film The Sorcerer's Apprentice, a rare collection of production design sketches and paintings, the trailer, and more.

[dvdisoil]

Well i just got the following Ugetsu DVD :(

http://us.yesasia.com/assocred.asp?CP9E8RT8+en/PrdDept.aspx/pid-1004044368/code-c/section-videos/

well for 6$ its not too bad i guess - i will be getting the criterion for sure, Great news .

[Lemdog]

Ugetsu, Ran, Tales of Hoffmann ... man November is going to be expensive.

[obscurelabel]

Intersting about Tales of Hoffman. I thought I read somewhere on the net, maybe the Criterion forum, that the film elements for this were in pretty bad shape. The three strip Technicolor negatives were intact, but they had shrunk and needed something like WB's "ultra resolution" process to line the images back up to make new prints (or an HD transfer). There didn't seem to be any good complete prints to work from, based on the story. Also, the owners of the film didn't or couldn't spend the money to restore the film. I wonder if a restoration on the negatives has been done, or if Criterion was able to find good enough alternate sources somewhere?

I saw parts of the movie years ago on a local PBS station but don't remember much about it, except it seemed extremely stagy, even for a musical. Anything from P&P is worth seeing though.

[Giles]

Ugetsu, Ran, Tales of Hoffmann ... man November is going to be expensive.

tell me about it - laclustre first half of the year for me and... BAM!!! a crap load of films and box sets I simply have to own at the end of the year.

[Giles]

In regards to Ran I'm glad to see that the folks at Criterion were able to include the Chris Marker docu A.K. - I rented the UK edition to see this and I wasn't disappointed - a truly fascinating documentary.

[PopcornTreeCt]

Wow. As a Japanese film fan I am in awe. This is my favorite year for releases.

[me12321]

Wow, all three are must buys for me. Though I heard "Pickpocket" was coming in November - I wonder if that's still true...

[darkside]

Guess I need to get around to selling off that Kurosawa limited edition from Amazon.

Glad a new version of Ran is coming though. If only they could rerelease all the other Fox Lorber titles.

[dom56]

Nice to see more Japanese films released on Criterion. :)

Any chance that Criterion will pickup on The Burmese Harp by Kon Ichikawa? I think it one of the best anti-war film I seen for a long time. Touching and beautifully acted with one of the most haunted soundtrack I heard in awhile.

[jmj713]

PopcornTreeCt, I'm with you, when I read this news, I literally jumped out of my chair! :)

[Satelk]

Seems like a good Ran DVD. Now if only they could announce the long rumoured re-release of Seven Samurai...

[marty888]

I <i>hate</i> it when I want all of the month's Criterions! Well, my <i>wallet</i> hates it.

I'm especially eager to get my hands on <b>RAN</b>, but wonder if the current "Masterworks" edition is worth picking up for the two commentaries.

[Cameron]

awesome stuff. Just got the amazon exclusive set on the doorstep today.

[LorenzoL]

Nice to have an official confirmation for Ran. I'll definitely be picking this up.

[Decker]

Nice to have an official confirmation for Ran. I'll definitely be picking this up.
Same here. :up:

[Cameron]

i just criterion would just start boxing up more kurosawa movies....its killer on the wallet.

[popest]

Criterion .......you're killng my overdraft!.....I love you.

[RichardW]

I sold my Masterworks Ran awhile back, so the Criterion version is great news to me!

[FilmFanSea]

Stunning official artwork is starting to appear, even though the November releases haven't been officially announced on Criterion's website. Enjoy:

Ugetsu (Spine #309)
http://www.criterionco.com/content/images/full_boxshot/309_box_348x490.jpg

Unknown Title (Spine #314)
http://www.criterionco.com/content/images/full_boxshot/314_box_348x490.jpg

Ran (Spine #316)
http://www.criterionco.com/content/images/full_boxshot/316_box_348x490.jpg

The Tales of Hoffman (Spine #317)
http://www.criterionco.com/content/images/full_boxshot/317_box_348x490.jpg

[dom56]

Don't like the cover on Ran, it look like some monkey painted it. :lol:

The cover for Ugetsu is nice. :thumbsup:

[Tyler_Durden]

Beautiful stuff, as usual. Looks like I'll be getting all three. I wonder what the unknown release will be?

[RichDB10]

Beautiful stuff, as usual. Looks like I'll be getting all three. I wonder what the unknown release will be?

Rumour has it that it could be Bresson's Pickpocket

Anyway, Ran is one i'll certainly be picking up :up:

[illennium]

I love the Ran cover, but the cover for Box Art Coming Soon is pretty drab. That's one of my favorite movies, and I wish they had used the original poster art for the cover.

[Skoobooz]

Great specs on Ran, decent cover art. Personally, I hope the missing title is Au Revoir Les Enfants, as Criterion did say it would be out in 2005 (of course, Tales of Hoffman is a perfect example of how things can get delayed...).

[Shagrath]

Great specs on Ran, decent cover art. Personally, I hope the missing title is Au Revoir Les Enfants, as Criterion did say it would be out in 2005 (of course, Tales of Hoffman is a perfect example of how things can get delayed...).

No doubt.. Some of my catalogues from 2000/2001 list Tales of Hoffman as "Coming Soon" :)

[slop101]

I'm hoping #314 is Bunuel's The Milky Way (which Jon Mulvaney told me should be out by the end of the year)...

[naitram]

I love the Ran cover, but the cover for Box Art Coming Soon is pretty drab. That's one of my favorite movies, and I wish they had used the original poster art for the cover.

:rimshot:

[FilmFanSea]

I love the Ran cover, but the cover for Box Art Coming Soon is pretty drab. That's one of my favorite movies, and I wish they had used the original poster art for the cover.
Paging Groucho ... you've got competition.

[garmonbozia]

Personally, I hope the missing title is Au Revoir Les Enfants, as Criterion did say it would be out in 2005.

I don't expect it to be. Au Revoir Les Enfants was originally given spine #293, and it had this number for quite some time on Criterion's website before it was replaced by The Flowers of St. Francis. So I think that if Au Revoir Les Enfants was coming out anytime soon, they would have just left it with spine #293.

[garmonbozia]

Ugetsu and Tales of Hoffmann are now appearing on Criterion's site:
http://www.criterionco.com/asp/browse.asp?sort=spine

no Ran yet, or mystery spine #314

[Skoobooz]

Spine 314 is apparently Pickpocket (scroll down for specs):

http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2664

Can't say I'm not disappointed about Au Revoir Les Enfants, but you are likely correct about the spine number issue, garmonbozia.

[jmj713]

I love it. Ugetsu & Ran are mine!

[PopcornTreeCt]

Those covers are very nice. Nice to see Criterion update their website very quickly. Can't believe they're up to #317 when the Life Aquatic seems like it is still fairly new.

[wendersfan]

Spine 314 is apparently Pickpocket (scroll down for specs)This is incredibly good news.

[chente]

Good news for me, bad news for my wallet. I'm happy to get Ran and Ugetsu but I wish Criterion would slow down on some of the Japanese releases and release more movies from other countries than France, Japan, and England. I'd love to seen some Indian, Mexican, Iranian films in the collection.

[jmj713]

Pickpocket specs, without cover, are up on CriterionCo.com

[steebo777]

Hmmm, I'm gonna have to dump my Masterworks Edition.

[Richard Malloy]

Anyone interested in WB R2/PAL 2-disc mint copy of "RAN" (w/Chris Marker's documentary on disc 2)? It's a frickin' great release, better than all the rest... except almost certainly Criterion's...

[Gerry P.]

I wish Criterion would slow down on some of the Japanese releases...I hope they speed up on the Mizoguchi releases. His work has certainly been neglected on DVD.

[wendersfan]

I hope they speed up on the Mizoguchi releases. His work has certainly been neglected on DVD.I agree. :)

[Cameron]

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/miscgfx/covers/rancriteriondvd.jpg

[Cameron]

street dates from davis dvd

Criterion Collection



The Criterion Collection has just issued details on their November titles. First up on November 8th are Robert Bresson's masterful Pickpocket and Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu. The former arrives with an audio commentary by film scholar James Quandt, a video introduction by writer/director Paul Schrader, a 2003 documentary featuring actors from Bresson's films, a 1960 French TV interview with the director and much more. The latter arrives as a two-disc set with an audio commentary by critic Tony Rayns, a two-and-a-half hour documentary on Mizoguchi by Kaneto Shindo, a new interview with director Masahiro Shinoda on the film, new interviews with first assistant director Tokuzo Tanaka and Miyagawa on their work on the film, trailers, a booklet featuring the original stories on which the film was based and more.



Due on November 22nd is Jacques Offenbach's fantasy opera The Tales of Hoffmannn. Criterion's long-requested DVD will feature audio commentary by Martin Scorsese and film historian Bruce Eder, a new introduction to the film by director and fan George A. Romero, Michael Powell's short musical film "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," a rare collection of production design sketches and paintings, the trailer and more. Also due on the 22nd is director Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece Ran which arrives as a two-disc edition with a newly-restored transfer, Chris Marker's 74-minute documentary on Kurosawa's craft in making the film, an introduction by filmmaker Sidney Lumet, a half-hour Toho documentary on the making of the film, a half-hour video piece reconstructing the film through Kurosawa's paintings and sketches, a new interview with star Tatsuya Nakadai and more. Retail is $39.95 apiece.