Today's purchase of The Sure Thing got me thinking about how many long-awaited titles I've gotten my mitts on over the last year or so, such as:

The Zatoichi Series
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Chungking Express
What's Up, Tiger Lily?
Sports Night
North to Alaska
Jackie Brown
Our Man Flint
Hell, even such an arcane title as J-Men Forever

I'm getting hard pressed to name a similarly "Holy Grail" title that my DVD shelf is holding an empty spot for. Anyone else having this problem?

*cough*Empire Strikes Back*cough*

*cough*Not if it's the goddamn "SE"*cough*
*hack*I'll just hold onto my laserdisc*hack*

Fargo and Goodfellas are the two I've been waiting on...

How about a decent GoodFellas disc.

Short Cuts
Ed Wood
Shindler's List
Raging Bull

The only thing I can think of are both Unico movies.. english version of course.. I'd be so happy.

A decent WS version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead would be nice. Name of the Rose would be another nice one.

Fastlane (TV show).

Zapped!

Truly Scott Baio's finest hour.

The restored version of King Kong, which I hear Warner is planning to release in 2004.

Cruising
Goodfellas
To Live and Die in LA
El Topo
The Hills Have Eyes
Lost Highway
Decline of Western Civilization I/II


I know a few of these are on the way so I'm not freaking out just yet....

Almost Heroes

Although 2003 has been a great year for releases, I seem to have an endless supply of Holy Grails.

My Holy Grail Released in 2003 (Region 1):

Ingmar Bergman: Persona (1966/MGM/November 18th); Shame (1968/MGM/November 18th); Winter Light (1962/Criterion/August 19th)
Robert Bresson: A Man Escaped (1957/New Yorker/December)
Joel Coen: Fargo SE (1996/MGM/September 30th)
Federico Fellini: La Dolce vita (1960/Koch Lorber/September); La Strada (1954/Criterion/November 18th)
Howard Hawks: To Have and Have Not (1944/Warner/November 4th)
Rainer Maria Fassbinder: The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978/Criterion/September 23rd)
John Huston: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948/Warner/September 30th)
Krzysztof Kieslowski: Three Colors: Blue/White/Red (1993-4/Miramax); The Decalogue (1988/Facets/August 19th)
F.W. Murnau: Sunrise (1927/Fox)
Yasujiro Ozu: Tokyo Story (1953/Criterion/October 14th)
Jean Renoir: Rules of the Game/La Règle du Jeu (1939/Criterion/November 18th)
Jean Vigo: L'Atalante (1934/New Yorker)


Holy Grail Releases I'm Still Awaiting in Region 1:

Bernardo Bertolucci: The Conformist (1971/Paramount)
Robert Bresson: The Diary of a Country Priest (1950/Criterion); Pickpocket (1959/New Yorker); Au Hasard Balthazar (1966/Criterion)
Luis Buñuel: L'Age d'or (1930/Kino); Los Olvidados (1950/?); El (1952/?); Viridiana (1961/?); Tristana (1970/Criterion)
Marcel Carné: Le Jour se lève (1939/Criterion)
Rainer Maria Fassbinder: Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980/?)
W.C. Fields (star): It's a Gift (1934/Universal)
Howard Hawks: Twentieth Century (1934/Columbia Tristar)
Hsaio-Hsien Hou: City of Sadness (1989/?); The Time to Live and the Time to Die (1984/?)
Kon Ichikawa: The Burmese Harp (1956/Criterion)
Shohei Imamura: The Insect Woman (1963/?); The Ballad of Narayama (1982/Criterion)
Akira Kurosawa: Ikiru (1952/Criterion)
Harold Lloyd (star): The Freshman (1925/?); The Kid Brother (1927/?)
Ernst Lubitsch: To Be or Not to Be (1942/Warner)
Leo McCarey: Ruggles of Red Gap (1935/Universal) Make Way for Tomorrow (1937/Universal)
Kenji Mizoguchi: Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939/Criterion); The Life of Oharu (1952/Criterion); Sansho the Bailiff (1954/Criterion); Ugetsu (1954/Criterion)
Mikio Naruse: Mother (1952/?); Floating Clouds (1955/?)
Max Ophüls: Earrings of Madame de ... (1953/Criterion)
Yasujiro Ozu: Floating Weeds (1934/Criterion); There was a Father (1942/?); Late Spring (1949/?); Autumn Afternoon (1962/?)
Satyajit Ray: The Apu Trilogy (1954-8/Columbia Tristar); The Music Room (1958/?)
Jean Renoir: La Chienne (1931/?); The River (1951/Criterion)
Victor Seastrom/Sjostrom: The Scarlet Letter (1926/Warner); The Wind (1928/Warner)
George Stevens: Gunga Din (1939/Warner)
Preston Sturges: The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944/Paramount); The Palm Beach Story (1942/Universal)
Bela Tarr: Sátántangó (1994/?)
Jacques Tati: M. Hulot's Holiday (1951/?); Playtime (1967/?)--both restored
Jean Vigo: Zero for Conduct (1933/Criterion)
Luchino Visconti: The Leopard (1963/Criterion)
Erich von Stroheim: Greed (1925/Warner)
Orson Welles: The Magnificent Ambersons (1942/Warner); Chimes at Midnight (1967/?)
Wim Wenders: Kings of the Road (1976/?)
Billy Wilder: Double Indemnity (1944/Universal)
Edward Yang: A Brighter Summer Day (1991/?)
Zhang Yimou: Raise the Red Lantern (1991/MGM)

Still waiting for SEs of:

Goodfellas
Casino
Meet the Feebles
Dead Alive

Just want to see, period:

Star Wars Trilogy
Seinfeld
Kids in the Hall
MST3K the Movie (WITHOUT paying 100 bucks on Ebay)
MST3K's Laserblast (favorite episode)

but yeah, the list is definitely getting smaller. For me it's almost caught up to the point of only needing movies/shows that are new.

Never been released
Spirit of St Louis - Dir: Billy Wilder and Jimmy Stewart
Ikiru - Dir: Akira Kurosawa
Schindler's List - Dir: Steven Spielberg
Animalympics - Dir: Steven Lisberger

Needs a good SE release
Blazing Saddles SE - Dir: Mel Brooks
Smokey and The Bandit SE - Dir: Hal Needham
Goodfellas SE - Dir: Martin Scorsese
Saving Private Ryan SE - Dir: Steven Spielberg (needs a good 3 disc release ala Blackhawk Down)
Blade Runner SE - Dir: Ridley Scott

Current OOP that needs to be re-released
Double Indemnity - Dir: Billy Wilder

Along with Santa Sangre!

More Criterion wishes:

I'd like to see some more Indies from them in the future. Including Mi Vida Loca. Just re-watched this last night and would love to see The CC get their hands on this.

Yeah, I've still got quite a few Holy Grails but lately studios have been releasing so much great stuff, I can't keep up! Hell, one of 'em was just released yesterday... which reminds me, I've got to make a Best Buy run to pick up The Haunting.

Alas, the following still have not graced my DVD shelves...

El Topo
The Entity
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (my weary VHS needs to be retired!)
Dellamorte Dellamore (someone other than Fox Lorber please)
Biloxi Blues
Bringing Up Baby
Ed Wood

The Thief and the Cobbler: Restored Version

(Miramax seems to be taking their time)

My biggest concern of the moment is Twin Peaks: Season 2 which is considerably overdue.

Aquetan.

This is at the top of my list.

Knowing the odds are greatly against me on some of these, my choices are:

The Cincinnati Kid
The California Kid
Seinfeld
Goodfellas: SE
Star Wars Trilogy
Song of the South
Blade Runner: SE
Hud
Bringing Up Baby
East of Eden
King Kong
Mighty Joe Young

Waiting for SE's
Goodfellas
Blade Runner
Ed Wood
A Fish Called Wanda

Still Waiting
Schindler's List
Star Wars Trilogy
Seinfeld
Northern Exposure

Can't wait to FINALLY grab these
Fargo: SE
Indy Collection

And another Billy Wilder movie that I really hope will be released some day: "Ace in the Hole" (aka "The Big Carnival"). Please, please, please...

Bringing Up Baby has been a "Holy Grail" of mine for a while, but with Kate's passing, it makes it even more so.

And I've said it before, I'll say it again..

SCTV!!!