PopcornTreeCt

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244316/
With the runaway international acclaim of this film, Taiwanese director Edward Yang could no longer be called Asian cinema’s best-kept secret. Yi Yi swiftly follows a middle-class family in Taipei over the course of one year, beginning with a wedding and ending with a funeral. Whether chronicling middle-aged father NJ’s tenuous flirtations with an old flame or precocious young son Yang-Yang’s attempts at capturing reality with his beloved camera, Yang imbues every gorgeous frame with a deft, humane clarity. Warm, sprawling, and dazzling, this intimate epic is one of the undisputed masterworks of the new century

SPECIAL FEATURES
+New, restored high-definition digital transfer
+Audio commentary by writer-director Edward Yang and noted Asian-cinema critic Tony Rayns
+New video interview with Rayns about the “New Taiwanese Cinema” movement
+U.S. theatrical trailer

MSRP - $39.95


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076278/

wendersfan

Shagrath

I was just thinking today that some new covers would be released, and actually tried to find them (by just putting in higher spine #'s on existing images) and nothing came up.

So they must've just done this within the last couple of hours.. Both films look pretty interesting, especially Koko. I love the documentaries that Criterion has released, and I love gorillas and animals, so this'll be great.

Bugg

Great to see YiYi , the current winstar dvd blows.

GoldenJCJ

where's the Criterion announcement for these?:

GHackmann

Boy, am I ever glad I resisted buying Yi Yi for this long . . .

gryffinmaster

Both sounds remotely appealing. Wonder if Koko will be priced similar to Night and Fog ...

Yi Yi sounds like it could be interesting - if not too sweet. Anyone seen it?

Giles

I tried, but the first 15 min - eesh.

Sondheim

I've heard really fantastic things about "Yi Yi" - this should be a very exciting release.

Fincher Fan

I'll be picking up Yi Yi.

STEVEIGNORANT

I really hope Criterion ups the quantity of releases. The quality is sure lacking, so at least there would be a chance of getting something good. Looking forward to the Kurosawa reissues, but then thay will be another month with nothing new. Maybe Eclipse will make up for the lackluster titles lately. Besides Equinox and Late Spring, nothing has been that appealing. And outside of Virgin Spring and Bad Sleep Well, nothing released so far this year has interested me. To each his own I guess...

pro-bassoonist

I am going to strongly agree and at the same time disagree with this post. Agree because I see some very average-at-best titles coming under their logo yet I was hoping that this year we will finally see some Spanish titles (is it so difficult to add Carlos Saura....) and more importantly Eastern European cinema. MK2 in France and Arthaus in Germany have been churning out some excellent titles (Romanian and Greek cinema in particular) and recently Turkey has had some major success in Cannes, Berlin, and Venice.

Disagree with this post because thus far Criterion have delivered some truly great packages. The Louis Malle set was perfect, I just received Marco Bellocchio's Fists in the Pocket...also perfect, Malle's Elevator to the Gallows while not one of the director's best is most welcome. There is no question however that if Antonioni's Eclipse finally appears this would be great!!

Also, I am a big Schroeder fan, especially his works after the 80s, but Koko is nothing to write home about! Average documentary at very, very best!

To sum it all up...I see some substantial decrease in quality products.


Ciao,
Pro-B

Dan Average

Yi Yi is a great film and with the Starmax release out of print I don't think there's an acceptable English-subbed version out there (maybe the R4 release, but I haven't heard much about that one). It's not as impressive a package as, say, The Complete Mr. Arkadin, but it's still a high point of Criterion's year to date and it gives me new hope for some more Chinese-language films from the company -- the last one was In the Mood for Love, so there's lots of room for improvement on that front.

Sondheim

I've been very pleased with Criterion this year - June is the only month that I'm not particularly excited for one of their releases. "3 Films by Louis Malle" is my favorite DVD collection so far this year (from any company), and their releases of films like "Young Mr. Lincoln", "La Bete Humaine", and "Mr. Arkadin" do not leave a lot to be desired. I plan on getting every title being released next month. It does seem that the next few months of their release schedule are a bit skewed to more modern films (not necessarily a bad thing), but I expect they still have a lot of amazing sets up their sleeves to be released throughout the rest of the year.

I don't understand why people are already dismissing "Yi Yi" as one of their "weaker releases". It's a pretty highly acclaimed film with several awards from film festivals and critic organizations.

Lemdog

Yi Yi best Criterion news of the year.

Perkinsun Dzees

Cool...HOSTEL!!! Yes!!!

Oh, waitaminute, that's a just a rotating ad banner.

wendersfan

Maybe I was premature with this. I'd forgotten how bad the other release of Yi Yi is (I haven't watched it in years) and, with the addition of a Yang commentary, this is a significant release. I'm still annoyed they didn't come out with A Brighter Summer Day instead...

Not a big Schroeder fan, FWIW.

Is there any reason why Criterion hasn't come out with a release of Hou's City of Sadness? It's probably the most significant Chinese film without a DVD. It's baffling.

kenho

Is that the same audio commentary from the UK ICA disc ?

Both the UK and US disc (Winstar) has Edward Yang's commentary, which one is better ?

marty888

Same here. Everyone I know who loves this film also complains about the current DVD release.

Richard Malloy

Outta nowhere... "Yi Yi"!!!!

To say I'm thrilled is but an understatement, even though I am lucky enough to have the Starmax DVD. Great to see a new Yang commentary for this one (the only worthwhile aspect of Fox Lorbers otherwise horrible release).

And what a perfect cover - the back of Yang-Yang's neck!

This release may not be quite at the level of "Viridiana", but for me personally... it comes real close! And I also hope this bodes well for more Edward Yang from Criterion (yes, especially "A Brighter Summer Day").

William Fuld

L'Eclisse was released last year. He's refering to the rumored cult label.

pro-bassoonist

And this shows you how far off I was. I was talking about La Notte...which also is a moot point

Pro-b

Skoobooz

According to the Criterion site, they're also releasing an Olivier Shakespeare set, with Hamlet, Henry V and Richard III. Looks like the already-existing editions.

dx23

Olivier's Shakespeare

gryffinmaster

Nice. Haven't picked up any of those yet. Hope the boxart is sharp.